Operation: DogBoy
by temlim
Summary: Inuyasha is the product of a failed scientific experiment. When his continued existence is threatened he must trust a high school girl to help him escape the only life he has ever known. InuKag
1. One Long Day

Disclaimer: I do not own any of the Inuyasha characters.

1. One Very Long Day

Kagome cracked open an eye as she heard what sounded like a quartet of trumpet players, all of whom were competing for the title of "loudest trumpeter _ever_," crammed into her smaller-than-average bedroom. The tired girl groaned as her questing fingers found a switch which she promptly flipped. And again. And again. The trumpeting did not stop, but was instead joined by a flashing light. The slight teenager cursed mentally as she opened her other eye to shoot a death glare at the alarm clock.

If the clock had had just two more IQ points (and a pair of mini mechanical legs), it would have been whimpering and scampering for cover. Instead it sat there, taunting her in its foolish mechanical way. She reached out again, this time managing to hit the off button as opposed to her light switch, and swung her feet to the floor. Wincing at the cold, Kagome padded off to the bathroom.

A weekend job, her mother had said, means extra cash. It'll be good experience, her mother had said. It'll look great on applications and resumes, her mother had said. You'll have to get up at six on Saturdays, her mother had definitely not said. You'll be working for a strict yet cold, unfeeling supervisor, her mother had also not said.

Half an hour later she emerged and briefly contemplated begging her mother to buy heated toilet seat covers. It had never worked in the past, but hey, maybe this time? In any case, she was ready, or as ready as she was going to get at just barely past six o'clock in the morning, for her second weekend at her new job. Kagome swung her still-damp hair over her shoulder, shouted goodbye to her mother, and walked out the front door. As she closed the door she heard her mother begin to speak, "Did you eat breakf—?" Why she still bothered asking was a question Kagome had not yet been able to solve.

The car was parked in front of the house, not quite parallel to the curb. At this point in her life, Kagome was beginning to suspect that she would never achieve a truly parallel parking job. She'd been parking in that spot for at least two years now and she still hadn't gotten it right. She liked to claim that the house was actually on a slight hill, compounding the already difficult process of parallel parking, but no one believed her.

The morning was chilly but clear, promising to develop into a truly spectacular spring day. It was, however, far too early for Kagome to be an appreciative audience. As she swung her bag into the passenger seat, her mental energy was fully engaged in willing all the traffic lights between her and the lab to be green.

Not surprisingly, the lights were mostly red, but that didn't stop her from eventually pulling up in front of her destination, the large, ugly, square building dominating the landscape. "Smollet Laboratory" read the steel letters that faced out over the driveway. Kagome ignored their commanding glint, not even sparing the words a hurried glance as she ran inside the building. She was late.

"Morning Lenny," she greeted the security guard on duty, flashing her nametag as she did so.

"Morning Kagome," Lenny replied, "Better watch out for your beloved superior this morning. She's in frost-mode."

Kagome sighed. This was not what she wanted to hear, especially not on a morning when she was already a few minutes late. Turning a corner in the building, she attempted to blend into the neutrally painted walls, or at least look as if she had been there for hours, not just arrived with wet hair.

She was unsuccessful. From down the hall, see saw a tall, slim shape coming her way. Kagome increased her efforts to melt into the wall. "Kagome!" The voice was as cold and precise as the point on an icicle. She suspected that Kikyo was not impressed. Maybe a blow dryer would help, she thought idly. Or perhaps she could claim that one of the sprinklers had gone off?

"Kagome!" her supervisor's voice was shot through with that certain shrill tone, like sleet falling on a winter pavement, that Kagome had already learned to associate with trouble.

"You are four minutes late. Do you know what could happen in four minutes?"

Kagome shook her head although she was pretty sure the question was rhetorical.

"A person could die in four minutes, a life could change in four minutes, you could be fired in four minutes. That's what could happen in four minutes. Now go and put on a smock, you have a lot to do, and I don't want you wasting any more of my time."

Kagome sighed again, and headed to the changing room. It looked like it was going to be a long, long day. And she had thought she'd left smocks back in her kindergarten days.

OOOOOOOOOOOOO

Outside, birds were chirping, bees were buzzing, and flowers were opening, displaying their brilliant colors to an indifferent sun. Inside, Kagome Higurashi, schoolgirl and part-time employee, was washing her hands. Again. She was going to have to invest in some hand cream soon, she mused, because the constant handwashing that the lab demanded was killing her skin.

"Kagome," Kikyo's voice sounded in the distance, as musical as the ice breaking on a lake in springtime. Kagome jumped, and immediately grabbed a petri dish, trying to look busy. "Kagome put that down. It's time for your lunch break." The newest employee of the Smollet Laboratories grinned and dropped the petri dish she was holding.

"And be careful with those dishes, Kagome. They cost money. Now pick it up and put it away properly."

Inwardly, Kagome growled at her supervisor's bossy tone. She did not enjoy being ordered around like some unimportant grub. Granted, as a part-time high school employee that was essentially what she was, but there was no need to rub it in her face.

Outwardly she smiled submissively, nodded her head, and visualized attacking Kikyo with a dozen raw eggs. Although, she thought with a frown, Kikyo's hair was quite shiny. She was probably the type who used raw eggs regularly to increase the shine and vitality of her hair. Or maybe that was olive oil? Some type of food product anyhow, and, knowing Kikyo, no doubt it was an organic and expensive one too. There was just no winning. With a sigh, Kagome turned to go on her lunch break.

OOOOOOOOOOO

The sun had been down for several hours and Kagome Higurashi was crouched down the end of a small, dark corridor, attempting to look like a rat.

Ok, so technically, it had been her fault that a cage full of lab rats had been released, but what did they think she was, a cat?

Kagome grimaced at the memory; Kikyo had not been happy with her, and her ears were still ringing from the talk she'd received.

"You're not leaving until all five those rats have been caught. Do you realize what a serious sanitation issue they are? If this ever got into the news..." Kikyo's voice had trailed off, like frost melting from a windowpane, but her glare was as icy as ever.

On the spot, Kagome had been unable to come up with a properly witty, or at least properly apologetic, reply. So she had settled for, "But Mickey Mouse is beloved by millions," a response which, on looking back, she could see was striking the wrong note altogether.

"Yes, that's Mickey Mouse, not Mickey Rat," Kikyo retorted. Kagome allowed herself a small feeling of triumph—at least Kikyo was no better at thinking up comebacks than she was. The feeling disappeared almost immediately, however, as Kikyo continued. "And one other thing, I don't want anyone knowing about this little incident, so you are not to go after them until the majority of people have left for the day." As further punishment, she ordered her to clean petri dishes until that time. Kagome had slumped in defeat and went off to phone her mother.

And that, she thought grimly, was why she was crouched here on her aching hands and knees many hours after the official close of the lab, attempting to sound like a large, friendly rat, the kind of rat that inspired other rats to come out for a friendly chat and a bit of cheese. Or whatever it was rats did in their spare time.

It was spooky in the lab at that time of evening, the quiet magnifying every little noise she made. Luckily, it also magnified the scratching of the rats, which made her job slightly easier. Well, that and the fact that she had sneakily put some food in opportune places earlier that evening in order to lure them into certain parts of the building, and away from others.

She creeped forward slowly, her eyes intent on the rat that she was currently stalking. It was a small, brown one. Probably female, and currently huddled against the wall nibbling on the bait.

"Ah ha, got you, you little disease-ridden creep!" Kagome exclaimed, swooping down on the rat. Not that she didn't feel somewhat sorry for it, after all, if she were locked up and experimented on daily, she would probably take any opportunity for freedom that came up. That didn't mean she was happy about having to stay there hours after closing time to recapture them. "Take that," she added, as she popped the rat into the portable cage which was already holding three of its peers. "Just one more 'serious sanitation threat' to go!"

"Talking to yourself?" a handsome man with dark hair pulled back into a ponytail asked from behind her.

Kagome jumped and turned with a squeak, idly noting that she had to stop impersonating the rodents before she turned into one. "Who the hell are you?" she asked, and then clapped a hand over her mouth. Her mother would not be pleased if she ever heard words like that coming out of her mouth; she had raised Kagome to be extremely polite, especially under high-stress situations.

The man dipped the mop in his hand, and swept Kagome a courtly bow. "Name's Miroku," he said, "night janitor. I was just admiring your lovely form. And you are?"

Taken aback by his formal-yet-nonchalant manner, he seemed to be hitting on her, of all things, Kagome gave her name, "Part-time employee," she added.

"Ah, that explains it," Miroku grinned, "I knew I wouldn't have missed a face like yours."

Kagome buried the aforementioned face in her hands. Yep, definitely hitting on her, and not very subtly either. Unless that was an ambiguously expressed insult? She shook her head before she got too wrapped up in analysis. "Umm, I'm sorry, I'd love to stay and talk, but I've gotta go. Kikyo's put me on a job, and if I don't do it..." She let her voice trail off, hoping the man would take the hint and leave her alone.

"Right, right, sorry," Miroku gave her a grin and walked away down the hall, whistling a catchy tune. Somehow, against all the laws of physics that she was aware of, the notes seemed to physically fall away from him and slide up her arm.

Right, thought Kagome, shaking her head, back to work. The weird ones definitely came out at night, didn't they? As she was considering this, she saw a small dark shadow slide under a door at the end of the hall. "Authorized Personnel Only" read a forbidding sign in clear black letters. Well, Kagome reasoned, she was authorized to get that rat, and the rat, who obviously couldn't read, had just gone under that door, so that should mean that she was authorized to go through, too.

With the end of her long night in sight, Kagome, ignoring the false logic of her impressive feat of rationalization, eagerly caught at the doorknob and gave it a quick twist. Or tried to, anyhow, since the knob refused to twist with her.

Kagome cursed under her breath, but, never one to quit a job once she had given her word, decided to go and find some keys. She knew Kikyo kept a bunch in her office, and she sure hoped the older woman was authorized. With barely a moment of hesitation, Kagome trotted off to go and pillage her beloved boss's desk.

OOOOOOOOOOOOOO

"Ha!" Kagome grinned triumphantly a few minutes later as she snatched Kikyo's key card and key ring from a drawer. "Now for the moment of truth," and she headed back down the five zillion miles of beige corridors separating her from the rat-door.

Soon she was standing in front of the door, trying out the keys. Finally, a large, silver one fit, and she twisted it, listening as the heavy bolt drew back. This time, the knob twisted, but when she shoved against the door, it still didn't move. She cursed, but then noticed a slot to the side, and inserted Kikyo's key card. This time, the door swung open.

The room was small and dark. Kagome stood still for a minute, waiting for her eyes to adjust to the dark, or for her searching fingers to find a light switch. Instead, she was getting the creepy feeling that she was not alone. This was only confirmed a moment later when a pair of large hands fastened around her neck and a nearby voice growled out, "Who the fuck are you?"


	2. Blame it on the Rat

A/N: Just a quick thanks to all those who reviewed—I really appreciate your input!  
  
Disclaimer: I do not own Inuyasha yet, but give me time...  
  
2. Blame it on the Rat  
  
The rat slipping underneath the door woke him, and the scrabbling at the knob finished the job. Inuyasha sat upright in his bed; his ears swiveled towards the door.  
  
It was late. No one ever came near the door, at least not the one that opened on to the outer corridor, at that time of night. Even the lab technician who came by to do nightly checks had left long ago.  
  
The fumbling stopped as the person on the other side of the door realized that it was locked. Inuyasha listened as the footsteps retreated down the hallway. He lay back down, only to sit up again a few minutes later when he heard the quick, light steps return. As he heard the bolt draw back, Inuyasha decided that this was something worth getting out of bed for.  
  
He flattened himself against the wall behind the door as it swung open into the room. An unfamiliar presence entered and hesitated just inside the door. Fool, thought Inuyasha, you don't enter an unknown room and then stand right in the only patch of light coming into it. It was like an open invitation to the person inside to attack you.  
  
In those few moments, the scent of the intruder hit Inuyasha's delicate nose. She, for it was a female, he would guess around his own age, smelled fresh, like dandelions, with an under odor of...he sniffed again...rats? That seemed slightly incongruous. Inuyasha shook his head. This was no time to be puzzling over the scent of an unknown person.

Stepping forward, Inuyasha placed his hands around the girl's surprisingly slender neck, "Who the fuck are you?" he growled.

Kagome gasped at the sudden contact and the menace in the low masculine voice. Finding it suddenly very hard to focus on anything besides the rough grip encircling her neck, she nonetheless heard the door swing shut behind her, a low click indicating that the locks had shot back into place. Good, she thought, good. No doubt this is a highly dangerous criminal. I'm glad that the locks are working. At least he won't be able to get anyone besides me.   
  
No wait, she corrected herself, not good. Bad! Very, very bad. Oh my god. _Shit_. I am far too young to be locked into a dark room with an unknown male criminal. This is only my second week on the job, and I haven't even found the last rat yet. "Kikyo is going to kill me," she moaned softly; that was, if her mother didn't first. She had not been raised to die like this.  
  
"No, _I_ am going to kill you," the unknown male replied. "Now, once more, who the fuck are you?" He decided to emphasize his question with a gentle shake.  
  
Kagome had been fluctuating between extreme fear and extreme anger, but the shake did it. Deciding that anger was a lot easier to cope with than fear, she hissed out, "How'm I supposed to answer that if I can't even breathe?"  
  
"You seem to have gotten that out okay," Inuyasha pointed out, intrigued by the way the bitter smell of fear in her scent had suddenly disappeared. He sniffed. The fear could still be felt clinging around her, but it was no longer so acrid.  
  
Kagome put up her hands to grab at his wrists. "Let me go," she demanded, "If I have bruises, they're going to wonder why tomorrow at work. And you wouldn't want them to ask a lot of awkward questions, now would you?" She knew that her logic was faulty, but she hoped that he didn't. Besides, hadn't some crime show said something about keeping the criminal talking? Make them realize that you are a real person just like them.  
  
"If you don't show up at all, they'll be wondering even more," Inuyasha said. Damn, Kagome thought, he caught it. "Now don't make me ask it again."  
  
Right, next step was to personalize your relationship, tell them your name. And, she noted, he was asking for it anyway. Good sign! Maybe she wasn't going to die. "Higurashi. Kagome Higurashi," she would've batted her eyes, but she figured it was too dark for that to work. Also she didn't want to give him any ideas since she still wasn't sure what kind of social deviant she was dealing with.

"Now can you please let me go? And maybe turn on a light?" she added, rubbing her eyes. The dark must've been playing tricks on her, because she could've sworn she had just seen two little triangles twitch on the top of his head. Like weird little ears or something. Truly curious now, she dropped the wrist that she had been holding, pretty pointlessly she would admit, and lifted her hand to the top of his head. Grabbing one of the triangles, she rubbed. Yup, it felt like a warm piece of pliant, fuzzy cardboard. Did this boy wear Mickey-mouse ears to bed or something?  
  
"What the fuck, wench." Inuyasha exhaled sharply, dropping her neck and stumbling back a few paces. "What do you think you're doing?" She obviously did not know the meaning of personal space, he thought, carefully ignoring the fact that he had been on the verge of strangling her, very much within _her_ personal space, just a few minutes before. He shook his head, trying to rid himself of the tingling feeling that spread through his body at her touch. Nobody other than doctors ever touched him, and his inner self noted how good something as simple as a touch could feel. He told his inner self to shut up.

"You want light? Here you go then." Inuyasha flipped the switch by his bedside, which he was now standing by. Hopefully once she got a look at him, she would realize that he was not to be messed with.  
  
Kagome shut her eyes against the sudden brightness. As she opened them, she glanced around the room she was currently standing in. Small, she noted, very plain, not much decorating. Two exits. The door she had come in by, and one on the opposite wall. And for some reason, all the furniture appeared to be bolted to the floor. She gulped and reluctantly turned her eyes to the mysterious occupant.  
  
He was wearing a pair of boxers; presumably they were what he wore to sleep, since the bedclothes were all rumpled. Kagome gulped, again. The boxers left very little to the imagination, and, as her eyes made the journey up an impressive amount of very well toned flesh, she hoped that she wasn't blushing. Finally, out of excuses, she looked him straight in the face.  
  
And forgot everything else. The strangling, the threats, the weird ears, everything flew right out of her mind. He was, hands down, the best looking thing she had ever seen—and that included the time she had given up chocolate for a month on a dare, and then received a piece of chocolate fudge after the end of thirty-one very, very long days.  
  
This boy was damn good looking. Sexy as all hell, Kagome thought to herself, glad that no one else could hear her thoughts. Of course, what she didn't realize was that most of her thoughts were written plainly on her face; Kagome had never been good at hiding her emotions. Unaware, she continued her meditations. Who knew long silver hair could be so attractive? Unfortunately she was jolted out of her thoughts when she noticed the amused yet irate expression of the yellow eyes staring at her. She shut her mouth hastily and tried to look as if she hadn't just been ogling him.  
  
"What, never seen a half-naked, man-dog in the middle of the night before?" He inquired, sweeping his long hair back over one shoulder, "Well, look your fill. You probably won't get an opportunity like this again." He lowered his voice suggestively, "Actually, if you'd like to do a little more than just look," he took a step forward, "That could probably be arranged." After all, not a whole lot of women, or girls, or anyone, really, got into his chambers these days.  
  
"You arrogant sonofabitch" Kagome gasped, moving backwards until her back was against the door. Just because she had been ogling, didn't mean that he could just... And in that voice, too! What was he doing, channeling Marilyn Monroe?  
  
"Literally," Inuyasha showed his teeth in a mirthless grin.  
  
Kagome frowned, her intellectual side finally asserting itself. "No, that's impossible," she stated. "Species differentiation is based on reproductive isolation. It wouldn't be possible for a human and a dog to mate and produce offspring."

"Ever tried it?" He asked, taking another step closer. Barely half a foot separated them now.  
  
"Stop trying to intimidate me, you juvenile delinquent," Kagome snapped. Inuyasha stopped, hurt. Juvenile delinquent? What did she think he was? People were afraid of him; he wasn't just a little kid with a Swiss army knife. "Look wench, I've got abilities you've never even dreamed of," he said. It was an indication of his anger that he didn't even notice the possible sexual innuendoes in that statement.  
  
"Why did you ask for my name if you aren't even going to use it?" Kagome asked, feeling, like many people do when they're backed into a corner, slightly antagonistic. "It's Kagome. Say it with me, Ka-go-me."  
  
"Stu-pid wench," Inuyasha said, mimicking her frosty tone. With the absence of expression on her face, he noted, she sort of looked like that nurse, what was her name? With a frown, he scrutinized her. Yup, it was official. This girl was a dead ringer for Kikyo, bitch nurse from hell, although she was obviously much younger. Not that he disliked Kikyo, per se. It was more that, every time she came near him, he felt like the temperature plummeted about twenty degrees. It was as if Kikyo absorbed all of the warmth out of the atmosphere. Kagome, his inner self told him, was definitely NOT absorbing all the warmth out of the atmosphere. More like heating it up. Once again, he told his inner self to shut the fuck up. He had things to do.  
  
Kagome shifted, nervous under the intensity of his gaze. "Okay, let's play a new game," she announced, sensing his momentary distraction "No more try-to-kill-Kagome, no more try-to-sexually-intimidate-Kagome. How about answer-all-of-Kagome's-questions-because-she-is-a-very-curious-girl?" She ducked around him and made a beeline for the bolted down armchair.  
  
The boy standing in front of her rolled his eyes. What the hell? This girl was weird. Her emotions fluctuated apparently as naturally and as quickly as taking breath. Currently she was beaming up at him from his chair, with an expectant look on her face. Just how he had lost control of the situation so quickly, he had no idea. A scant few minutes earlier, he'd had her by the neck. Now she was sitting there calmly smiling at him?  
  
Kagome wasn't actually as calm as she appeared, but she was curious. And once her curiosity was piqued, she would see it through to the end, no matter what tried to get in her way. She knew that the man in front of her had just been threatening her, but he didn't seem malicious. More confused than anything else, actually. She put on her best I'm-too-sweet-to-kill-so-please-answer-all-my-impertinent-questions look, and decided to just go for it.  
  
"Ok, so how about story time?" She announced. "Who are you, and where did you come from?"  
  
Inuyasha didn't know what to do. He did not usually find himself entertaining strange girls in his room in the middle of the night. He felt like he should offer her a cup of tea or something, but he didn't even have a mug. Staring at the small figure seated in his armchair, he shook his head again. Well, it had been a long time since he had talked with someone who wasn't a lab technician, and for some reason he felt like talking to this girl. Plus, he could easily rip her apart if things got out of hand. Sitting down on his bed, he made up his mind. The mauling could wait.

"Hold on a second here," he said. "You don't expect me to just spill out my entire life history to a perfect stranger do you?

"I don't see why not," said Kagome. "Besides, we obviously have things in common—I work here, you live here. See, a common thread!"

Inuyasha rolled his eyes. "I don't think so, wench," he said. "How about you tell me a few things about yourself first?"

"Fine," the brown-eyed girl answered. "What do you want to know?"

Inuyasha wracked his brain for an appropriate question. One that didn't begin with "what's your sign" or "haven't we met before". He really needed to find an alternate source of reading material, he decided. Those romance novels that Sarara kept leaving for him really weren't helpful in this situation.

"Umm," he struggled, "Where are you from? And why are you here?"

"Alright," Kagome said, "I'll tell you my story first. But then I want to hear yours. I have a feeling that your story is much more interesting than mine..." And she began to tell him all those background things that two strangers tell each other. Her name, her school, her work.

Ten minutes later, Inuyasha had absorbed about all the small talk he could take. It was a relief when Kagome finally turned to him. "Now it's your turn," she said. "How did you get like this?" She pointed at his ears.  
  
"Ok," Inuyasha began, "I don't know why I'm telling you this. Not that you deserve it, but since you do seem to be here..." he trailed off, but she continued to look at him expectantly. "Alright. My name is Inuyasha. I am not, as you oh-so-intelligently surmised earlier, the product of some twisted human/animal relationship. My story is a little more complicated than that. Even I don't know all the details, but this is what I do know--"  
  
Kagome sat back in her chair and prepared to listen.


	3. Looks Like Someone has a Past

A/N: Thanks again to those who reviewed! Actually, thanks to those who read, with or without reviewing. This chapter may be a bit sentimental—I tried my best not to make it too bad, but…

Disclaimer: Inuyasha and company are still not mine. Which is, I know, a big surprise to all of us.

3. Looks Like Someone has a Past

Sango frowned thoughtfully at the screen in front of her. It looked like they were talking; they were facing each other and seemed to be on friendly enough terms for the moment. At least, no one was doing any strangling. She grimaced, if her boss found out that she hadn't noticed the intruder inside the room for about fifteen minutes, her job would be on the line. Damn Miroku and his roving hands. She sighed, probably she should be used to it by now.

With practiced ease, she put the earlier incident out of her mind in order to focus on the monitor. This friendly behavior on Inuyasha's part was highly unusual. He appeared to be holding an actual conversation, with actual words, not grunts, with another person. Sango looked closer at the small female figure seated composedly across from him.

"What do you think, Miroku?"

"Hot," he replied, sprawling comfortably on a swivel chair, "I wouldn't kill her either."

"Pervert," Sango said, "Should've known I wouldn't get anything useful out of you." Miroku grinned and saluted her with his mop.

"Just trying to keep you young."

"Ha. You know, the other day I was looking in a mirror, and you know what I found? A gray hair. That's right. I choose to blame this on you," Sango replied, "Now aren't you supposed to be posing as a janitor here? I suggest you go do some emergency cleanup in aisle two." She gestured vaguely towards the monitor that was currently showing an unusually talkative dog boy.

"And let you be the only one to hear what's going on behind door number one? I don't think so."

"I want someone on hand in case he gets violent again."

"Fine, but at least give me a portable. And a good-bye kiss," Miroku held out his hand, and proffered a cheek. Sango slapped a portable headset into his palm and gave him a pointed glare. "Now go," she said, pointing at the door.

"As you wish," Miroku replied, with one of his famous cheeky grins, as he ducked out the door.

OOOOOOOOOOOO

"I've spent my entire life in government labs like this one," Inuyasha was saying. Kagome nodded and made sympathetic noises, leaning slightly forward in her chair. She'd like to see someone call her a bad listener now. She had skills, damn it! She had done more than her fair share of peer mentoring back in school, and she just knew that all that "active listener" training was going to come in handy.

"A couple of decades ago, the government was experimenting with human/animal DNA crossovers. They were attempting to produce a select group of super-humans—that is, human to all extents and purposes, but with enhanced senses like those of certain animals," Inuyasha stopped, one of his ears twitching.

"What is it?" Kagome asked, fascinated by the way the two appendages seemed to move independently of one another. Currently, one was facing to the side, while the other was facing her.

"Someone's coming," Inuyasha answered, head cocked towards the door opposite to the one that Kagome had come through. After a moment he heard the noise of a mop and bucket and relaxed, "It's ok, just the late-night janitor. He's a pretty cool guy... Now where was I?"

"Enhanced humans," Kagome supplied, assuming she had just gotten a demonstration of the guy's so-called super senses. She couldn't hear a thing from outside the room. Either that or he was crazy. Kagome frowned, not entirely comfortable with the idea that she was locked in the room with a guy who thought some government conspiracy had genetically altered his body. Oh boy.

Then she glanced back at Inuyasha. The dog-ears were still on his head. The eyes were still an inhuman shade of yellow. If this was all just some crazy fantasy, then he'd gone through a lot of trouble to make it appear real. Unless things had drastically changed since the birth of her younger brother, most human babies were not born with ears on the top of their heads these days. Or claws, she added, looking down at his hands. With a mental shake, she focused back in on what he was saying.

"Oh right. Apparently we were supposed to be some sort of elite task force: you know, stop crime, promote world peace"

"Advocate for reasonable consumer packaging?" Kagome interrupted. She hated those stupid pillboxes that were impossible to open. The last thing a person with a migraine wants is to struggle with a small plastic bottle. Plus all that packaging was a waste of resources.

Inuyasha gave her a pointed look before deciding to ignore her comment in favor of continuing his own story. "Right... Anyhow, things got out of hand. We were too strong, too unpredictable. There was an uprising, led by my older brother. It failed, and those who weren't killed were put into isolation like yours truly." He made her a half bow, somehow managing to make the gesture look graceful despite his seated position and the fact that he was not wearing anything more than his pajamas. Or maybe it looked so good precisely because he _was_ wearing only his pajamas. Focus Kagome, she ordered herself.

"Can you guess my animal?" he asked.

"Um, a pigeon?" Kagome replied. "What do you think I am, stupid? Considering that you called yourself a dog-boy earlier, add in the ears and claws, that sounds like a pigeon to me."

Inuyasha snorted at the girl's blatant sarcasm, but supposed he deserved it. For a moment, he wondered why he was even sharing his entire life history with a virtual stranger. He didn't usually have actual conversations with other people. Although, he thought, almost killing somebody does seem to smash through the initial ice with an efficacy that few techniques can rival. Problem, of course, being that most people tended to resent having their lives threatened and almost dispatched of, although this girl seemed to have gotten through it without the usual revenge-oriented reaction. Plus she was almost as good a listener as the shrink that they'd made him see for a brief period after the uprising (for brainwashing, he suspected). She was leaning forward, her lips parted and her hands occasionally reaching up to toy with her hair, her attention obviously focused completely on what he was saying. 

Or maybe it was just that he was lonely. It had been a really long time since anyone new had come into his room and expressed an interest in him or his past. Inuyasha shrugged. "Anyhow, I got locked up in a little room, they move me from lab to lab once every two years or so, and that's basically what I've been up to. I don't know where everyone else is, and I don't know what their future plans are."

"Alright, then," Kagome said. She paused and eyed him for a minute. "So, how are you going to escape?"

"What? Escape? What?" Somewhere along the way, Inuyasha had missed a step. "Do you not see how dangerous I am? I would be a menace to society." Inuyasha puffed out his chest.

Kagome gave him a withering look. "No one deserves to be raised in a prison. Unless you honestly like it here?" She swept a hand around the small, barren room. "Don't you want your freedom?"

"Well, yeah," Inuyasha said, "but I'll never get it. There's no point wasting time in useless speculation." The bitterness in his voice was evident even to himself as he slumped back against the wall. 

"But you'll never have a chance to find out what happened to everyone else if you stay in here," Kagome said. "And I know that everyone deserves a chance at a normal life, regardless of who or what they are." She was leaning so far forward that, for a second, Inuyasha was afraid that she was going to fall off the chair. He was a struck by her compassion. Despite the threats and his status as a stranger, she seemed to be genuinely concerned about him.

For a minute, he stared into her eyes, seeing there her absolute conviction in what she was saying. She did think that he deserved a normal life, and she didn't think that he was somehow sub-human. She was different from the technicians who were usually around him. She did not act like the nurses who constantly poked and prodded him, who refused to meet his eyes, and who jumped if he so much as made a sudden movement. Their fear around him had been palpable and he had picked up on it. He had felt lacking, inferior. After all, normal kids, he knew, were not raised in cells cut off from all contact with other people. Very briefly, his confidence in himself was ignited by Kagome's conviction, but it was long enough.

"But how can I get out?" he asked. "In case you didn't notice, I'm pretty securely locked up here."

"I'll think of something," Kagome promised.

"Where will I go? Where _can_ I go?"

"I'll think of something." Kagome repeated. "We'll work out the details, somehow. As long as you want it badly enough, we can work it out." What was she doing, she asked herself. She was promising to help him escape, after having just met him, she answered. That was easy enough. Oh course, she really hadn't thought her offer through. It had just seemed natural somehow. Natural to want to help him. Anyhow, she had to repay him somehow for his trust in her, his willingness to share his vulnerability. It couldn't have been easy; despite his tough-guy exterior, there had been moments in the telling in which she would have sworn that she saw repressed emotions words shimmering in the depths of his inhuman eyes.

"Besides," Inuyasha mumbled, realizing, even as he said it, that it was his last-ditch excuse and perhaps the real reason that he felt so panicked at the thought of leaving his cell, "I've been isolated for so long that I won't even know how to act. And everyone'd probably be scared of me anyways."

Rejection, Kagome thought, peer mentoring skills kicking back into gear, what teenager isn't scared of it? But best to deal with that now.

"Nah," she grinned reassuringly, "Just charm them the way you did me."

Inuyasha snorted. Then gave up and grinned with her. Co-conspirators, he thought. It was nice to finally have someone on his side.

OOOOOOOOOOOOOOOO

Sango frowned. Who did this girl think she was? She'd known Inuyasha for what? All of half an hour? And already she was trying to arrange a jailbreak. "Kids today," Sango muttered under her breath. "No hope for them. Apparently they feel an unreasonable desire to free innocent dog boys who've been locked up and isolated for their entire lives." Okay, maybe Sango was a just little bit on the girl's side.

In any case, it looked like they were going to need to have more information on her. "Miroku" she whispered into a mic.

"Yeah?" Came the reply through her headset.

"What was the name of that girl again? You said you met her earlier in the hallway."

"Kagome Higurashi," was the immediate reply, "Never forget a name."

"Yeah, assuming it belongs to a pretty girl." Sango muttered, typing the girl's name into the computer in front of her. "Bingo," she said as a file popped up.

Let's see, hired two weeks ago. High school senior, honors student, one brother in junior high. Mother divorced, lived about ten minutes away, so far no complaints about her, except for a tendency towards occasional absentmindedness. "That's not very helpful," Sango said aloud, "Looks like this is going to need a more personal touch."

"I'm on it," was Miroku's instant reply. Oh crap, thought Sango, I forgot to turn my mic off.

"Wait, Mir--" but it was already too late, and Sango turned her attention back to the screen as the door to Inuyasha's room suddenly opened. She hoped Miroku didn't take that "personal touch" comment too literally.


	4. End of an Evening

A/N: Sorry it took me a little longer to get this chapter up, I got stuck doing massive piles of reading for school. Apparently, we're supposed to actually be doing work or something. Who knew?

Disclaimer: Still don't own Inuyasha or his delightful gang.

4. End of an Evening

Inuyasha relaxed a little bit as he heard the unmistakable sound of a mop and bucket being put away. He was totally unprepared when his door opened and a familiar "innocent" face peeked around the corner. Kagome, equally unprepared, would've tipped her chair over if it hadn't been bolted to the ground. She quickly scrambled to her feet.

"Hey Inuyasha, what's up?" Kagome observed the dark head and coverall-clad body of the young night janitor that she had met earlier that evening.

"Ah-ha! A girl in your room?" Miroku leered at Kagome in a friendly manner before motioning to her to sit back in her seat. "I didn't know you had it in you."

"Shut up Miroku," Inuyasha growled, "She just found her way in here by accident. It's not like we're friends or anything." Kagome narrowed her eyes at the ingrate. And after all she'd been offering to do for him, too. She clucked her tongue and shook her head at him, but before she had time to say anything--

"In that case..." no one who knew him could ever say that Miroku wasn't quick, or agile, as he could when he wished demonstrate both qualities. He chose to do so now. Before Kagome could blink, she looked down to find both her hands trapped within the warm grasp of the janitor.

"Since this fool obviously doesn't realize your worth," he started, "How about you and I..." Before he could finish his sentence, the beseeching janitor was picked up and tossed against the nearest wall. Inuyasha sat back down.

"Told you I was strong," he said to Kagome. She sat back down in her chair, feeling slightly bewildered by the whole chain of events.

Back in the monitoring room, Sango slapped her head. Things could have gone worse, she supposed. At least Miroku hadn't groped the poor girl.

"Ouch," Miroku rubbed his head, "I thought you said she was available?"

"I don't know if she is, and I don't care," Inuyasha retorted, "I just wasn't in the mood for midnight porn."

"Hello?" Kagome said, "Still here. And really, Inuyasha, so callous and cruel? My heart is breaking. And after everything we'd talked about, too." Inuyasha stared at her, unsure if she was serious or not, although he rather thought not. "Anyhow," she continued, "Now that Miroku is here to keep you company, I suppose I had better be going."

Kagome got up out of her chair, as Inuyasha tried to think of something that would make her stay just a little bit longer. She was, after all, the only visitor he had received in about a year and a half.

"Oh shit, the rat," Kagome swore, really, really thankful that her mother wasn't around. She was not doing well on that not-swearing pact that she had agreed to.

The two young men stared at her. "Rat?" they echoed.

"Yeah, rat," Kagome sighed, then explained her earlier situation to them.

"Oh," Inuyasha said, "Right before you came in here, a rat slipped under the door."

"Great! Where is it now?"

"What do I look like, a cat? I have no idea," Inuyasha said.

"Well," Kagome spoke very slowly, as if to a small child, "Why don't you use your super powers to figure it out?"

"I told you, they're enhanced, not super," Inuyasha snapped, "And with you screeching so much I wouldn't be able to hear a fifty piece orchestra playing Wagner."

Miroku looked at the combatants with amusement, then down to the floor where, a few minutes before, a small brown rat had crept underneath the bed. He supposed it had been startled when he hit the wall. Miroku wondered if he should tell Kagome, but she seemed to be having too much fun arguing with Inuyasha to listen to him.

"Just shut up a second, wench," Inuyasha ordered. Kagome stilled and watched with curiosity as his ears began twitching all over the place.

"I think it's under my bed now."

"Ok, I'll check." Kagome got to her knees, hoping that someone occasionally dusted in Inuyasha's room. With no more delay, she got on her hands and knees and stuck her head beneath the bed.

"Oh, here it is," she said, her voice floating out very softly from beneath the metal frame. "Quick, can you hand me the cage? It's by my chair." Without a word, Inuyasha passed it down to her, sliding open the top as he did so.

Miroku would've helped, but he was too busy admiring the contours of the young woman's attributes—probably why Inuyasha chose that moment to elbow him.

"So, why're you here anyhow?"

"Ah," Miroku smiled, "I brought contraband." Reaching into his pockets, he brought forth a small package.

"Pocky!" Inuyasha's eyes lit up as he snatched the packet out of Miroku's hand. "Awesome!" he pulled out a stick and started to munch.

At that moment, they were both distracted by Kagome's loud yell, "Get back here you little fuzz ball!" Both men looked up to see the back end of the girl give a wriggle, then disappear completely underneath the bed. A scurrying noise was heard, and then a small shape shot out from its hiding place, going hell-for-leather towards the door. "Grab it!" Kagome shrieked. Thrusting his pocky at Miroku, Inuyasha swooped forward and grabbed the little rodent by its tail.

"What do you want me to do with it?" he asked, eyeing the rat with distaste as it squeaked in his hand.

"Here, pop it in here with the others," Kagome grinned at him in victory, her face flushed and a large dust bunny nesting in her hair. Inuyasha smiled back and stuck the rat in the cage she was holding out to him.

"Well, I guess that's it," Kagome said. "Now I have to go home. But listen, Inuyasha, I only work weekends and I don't know when I'll get to see you again, but don't worry, I'll be thinking about what we were talking about earlier..." Her voice trailed off and she turned to Miroku, "Nice to meet you," she smiled.

"The pleasure was all mine," he returned, giving her a grin and holding her gaze for just a second too long.

"Erhm," Kagome cleared her throat, "Anyhow. Now how do I get out of this place?" She walked over to the door she'd entered by and fiddled with the locks. "Bye guys!" she called as the door swung open and she stepped out into the hallway.

What a weird evening, Kagome mused as she headed off to return Kikyo's keys to her desk and the newly secured rats to the lab.

Back in Inuyasha's room, two young men regarded each other silently for a minute, before Inuyasha took his pocky back from Miroku and started eating it happily.

OOOOOOOOOOOOO

Kagome didn't get to see Inuyasha the next day. Her mother would tan her alive if she weren't home by a reasonable hour on a school night.

Kikyo was in a slightly better mood that day, owing to the reinstatement of the five furry miscreants without anyone realizing they'd ever made one last stab at freedom. She contented herself with assigning Kagome to the safe yet dull job of filing, and let it go at that.

Kagome was not a fan of filing. It was a job that required a lot more patience, and a much better fluency with the alphabet than she had. Actually, her alphabet was usually okay, but after an hour of going "Sutherland is under 'S' so that's 'Q R S' after 'R' and then uther is 'u' so 't u' after 't' and before 'v'," she felt about ready to scream. Plus she had the feeling that she had just filed a "Knightley" under 'n', but there was absolutely no way that she was going back to check. She just put things into the drawers; once they were there, they were someone else's problem. Luckily for her sanity, it was at that moment that she was interrupted by a friendly female voice.

"Hi. You must be new around here. My name's Sango." A woman slightly older than Kagome stood behind her, hand outstretched in a friendly gesture. Kagome shook it, glad of any excuse to get up from her position crouched in front of the gaping cabinet.

"Kagome," she said, "Kagome Higurashi. I'm a part-time employee."

"Oh, that would explain why we haven't met before," Sango smiled and tapped her nametag, "I'm part of the security here."

The two young women fell into easy conversation, chatting as if they had known each other for years. At least, that is until Kikyo blew through the room, like the eddying winter wind over the frozen tundra, lowering the temperature by about ten degrees and reminding both girls to get back to work. Kagome winced, not quite over the guilt of all her misdemeanors of yesterday. She turned back towards the filing cabinet after telling Sango that they should get in touch sometime.

As Sango walked away, she thought about the girl. She seemed to be a perfectly nice, innocent high school girl. Highly unlikely to be a super-spy, she chided herself. Still, it was best to be secure. She would see Kagome again. And try not to let her see Miroku. Sango rolled her eyes at the memory of the monk's typical overly friendly behavior.

If anyone had been walking directly behind the "security" officer, they would have heard a soft voice mumbling, "I swear, he is going to be the death of me. Why I don't just ask to be re-partnered, I'll never know. Honestly 'you said it needed the personal touch'" she mimicked a well- known innocent face, "What kind of excuse is that?" Sango's voice faded as she turned a corner, shaking her head.


	5. Sango Forms Conclusions

Disclaimer: Don't own any of the Inu characters, though I may have mangled them a little for my own purposes.  
  
5. Sango Forms Conclusions  
  
The man swiveled behind his desk. Touching the tips of his fingers together in the accepted "evil villain" pose, he scored the young man standing in front of him with a searching glance. The young man shifted under the gaze, it was almost as if sandpaper was being physically rubbed across his body.  
  
"I think we both know what to do," his voice drifted softly across the surface of the large, polished wooden desk. "It is time to stop this little game. He is a drain on government resources, both monetary and manpower. It should have stopped a long time ago, but we can at least rectify the past even if we can't relive it."  
  
"But, sir, what about the two doing surveillance?" The young man fidgeted a little, not quite sure if it was appropriate to ask questions. The hardwood floor was suddenly looking very interesting. Eight knots on the board he was standing on.  
  
"They'll be relocated," the man behind the desk observed his inferior. "They don't need to know more than that. I fear they may have become a little too...close to the situation to see it clearly."  
  
The young man looked up. "Very well, sir. I'll get on it immediately."  
  
"No, no. No rush," the man's smile was more alarming than any of his previous facial expressions, "This is confidential. Too quickly means there will be questions, and questions would be...awkward." He had a habit of pausing right before key words in each sentence, as if leaving the listener the chance to mentally supply his own word. He had always said that a strategic pause could tell more about the real feelings of the person you were talking to than a direct question ever would.  
  
The young man before him nodded curtly, "I'll get things started, sir."  
  
"Subtlety," the man behind the desk said, with a dismissive hand gesture.  
  
"Right. Subtlety," the young man repeated as he walked out of the office. There was a note of uncertainty in his voice.

OOOOOOOOOOOOOO

Sango hung up the phone and turned to Miroku with a frown. "That was Kouga," she announced.  
  
"Oh? That's nice," Miroku said without looking up from his lunch.  
  
"I think something is up."  
  
"Why?" Miroku enquired, taking another bite of his sandwich. Peanut butter and jelly was always good. It was amazing really, when he thought about how many times in his life he had had that exact same sandwich, and still it never got old.  
  
"Well, Kouga's not exactly the subtlest guy on the planet," Sango rolled her eyes. "He said something like, 'You guys should prepare for reassignment. We'll be taking care of Inuyasha. I mean, um, not taking care of, just, um, removing. Err, I mean moving. Um.' and then he hung up abruptly."  
  
Miroku snorted, "Yeah, he never was the quickest bunny in the hutch." He went back to his sandwich, as Sango silently began counting. As she reached three hippopotami, Miroku's head snapped back up.  
  
"Wait a minute. 'Remove' Inuyasha? Does that mean what I think it means?"  
  
"Well, of course it depends on what you think it means. But if you think it means that the government has gotten tired of funding an extremely costly and embarrassing mistake that the public is currently entirely unaware of but could potentially become aware of at any point, and has decided to take the easiest way to rid themselves of the problem, then, yeah, I'd say it means exactly what you think it does."  
  
"Shit," Miroku stared at her, "And he's like a sitting duck here." Sango nodded.  
  
"What're we gonna do?" he asked. Inuyasha was strong, there was no doubt about that, but it didn't sit well with his sporting instincts to let him just be eradicated like a rat in a cage. He should at least have a sporting chance to save himself.  
  
"Well," Sango bared her teeth in what might have been a friendly grin, but probably wasn't, "I think we might have to reverse our position on what Kagome was saying on Saturday."  
  
Miroku looked at her, remembering Kagome's conversation from three days ago. He returned Sango's grin, "You're right, that could work. And hell, even if our conclusions are wrong, every man deserves his freedom." Sango nodded again and the pact was sealed.

OOOOOOOOOOOOOO

It was Thursday and senior Kagome Higurashi was pretty sure that she'd just failed yet another math test. Why everyone kept making her take math when it was obvious she had no aptitude for the subject was beyond her. She was starting to suspect that the world was, indeed, as cruel as all the country songs claimed. She sighed. At least she was meeting up with Sango after school. It gave her something to look forward to.  
  
Sango's call two nights before had been entirely unexpected. Yes, she had felt immediately compatible with the older woman, but she hadn't expected an invitation for a mid-week meeting. After all, they had only met at work the once. Now her curiosity was making the already-long school day seem to go about three times slower than usual.  
  
When the bell finally rang at the end of the day, Kagome was in the first wave of students breaking for the exits. As she emerged into the sun, Kagome beamed to see Sango lounging casually against a compact black car, parked at the front of the lot.  
  
"Hey!" she exclaimed, "Hope you haven't been waiting long."  
  
"Nope," Sango replied as she surveyed the innocuous-looking high school girl in front of her. In her school uniform, Kagome looked even younger than the 18 years Sango knew she was. She hoped that she and Miroku were doing the right thing in putting so much responsibility on her. But, "I just got here," was all she said.  
  
"Great," said Kagome. "So where are we going?"  
  
"I know this cool little cafe about five minutes from here, if that sounds good to you."  
  
"Oh, A Panini for Your Thoughts?" asked Kagome. "They have the best hot chocolate."  
  
"Alright then, let's go." Sango hopped into her car.  
  
Twenty minutes later, the two young women were seated across from each other, Sango nervously clasping a cup of the recommended hot chocolate. She had run out of small talk and had a feeling that it was time to explain what she was doing there. Kagome noticed her silence and gave her an expectant look.  
  
"Okay," Sango gathered up her courage. What she was about to do violated every bit of basic training that she had ever had. "There's something I need to tell you. It's about the lab."  
  
Kagome raised an eyebrow (a feat which had only taken her about half a year's worth of concentrated training) and made small encouraging noises.  
  
"I'm not just regular security there," Sango continued. "Actually, I work for Intelligence." As she spoke, Sango took out her badge and flipped it open with a practiced twist of the wrist. Kagome held a hand out for it, inspected it closely, and then handed it back without a word. It looked authentic enough, but then again, she wouldn't know an authentic Intelligence badge from a hole in the ground.  
  
"As you may or may not have guessed, this has to do with Inuyasha. Miroku and I--"  
  
"Miroku!" Kagome exclaimed, "The night janitor?"  
  
"Yeah, I know. He doesn't act like he could hold down a mature, responsible job, let alone work for Intelligence," Sango shrugged. "Nevertheless, the two of us are supposed to keep tabs on Inuyasha. We've been monitoring him for the last year and a half, basically as long as he has been at Smollet."  
  
"And he doesn't know this?" Kagome asked.  
  
"Not as such, no. I'm sure he knows that someone is watching him--someone always has been--but he doesn't know that it is us specifically."  
  
"But why?" Kagome asked. "He hasn't done anything wrong."  
  
"I know," Sango agreed, "But you know about the uprising, right? To put it in the short version, they're worried about him. They fear his strength and his abilities."  
  
"Wait a minute," Kagome asked, "How did you know that I knew about the uprising?"  
  
"That's our job," Sango said, "We know about everything that happens in Inuyasha's room."  
  
"You mean it's bugged?!" Kagome exclaimed, suddenly feeling very, very exposed, as she tried frantically to remember if she had said anything embarrassing during her brief stay in the dog boy's quarters. Right then she was really, _really_ glad that she had not taken up Inuyasha's offer to allow her to get the "full dogboy experience."  
  
"Yeah, and video monitored too."  
  
The high school girl sipped at the rest of her hot chocolate, buying time to process what she had just heard. "Then why on earth did you let him threaten me like that?" she demanded, putting into practice the second tenet of stalling--when you don't know what to do, accuse. "I could have been seriously hurt!"  
  
"Yeah, well..." Sango began to turn a little red. "Unfortunately I was a little distracted at that moment, and it all happened so quickly. Then you managed to calm him, and we were interested in what happened. Inuyasha is usually very anti-social."  
  
"Of course he is, he never gets to interact with other people," Kagome said, "All alone in that little room of his." Both women were silent for a minute. Then Kagome continued, eyes narrowed, "So just why are you telling me all of this anyways? You must have a reason."  
  
Sango looked at her appreciatively. She liked the way the younger girl got right to the most important point without any more mucking about. She was also relieved that Kagome had dropped the whole question of their delayed reaction to her predicament. Damn Miroku and his roving fingers! "You're right," she said, "And you aren't going to like my reason." Briefly, she outlined the plot that she and Miroku had discovered earlier that week.  
  
"And you want _me_ to figure out a way to keep him from being...exterminated?" Kagome asked with a slightly acidic note to her voice, although she already knew that she would do what she could to help. Inuyasha did not deserve to be punished because some scientist had been playing around and lost control. Still, she was in high school!  
  
"We just thought you might go ahead, as it were, with plans that you were already making...?" Sango suggested, toying with her spoon. Then she looked up and met Kagome's eyes directly. "Please Kagome," she said softly, "He's going to need as much help as he can get."  
  
"I know," Kagome answered, responding immediately to the pleading in Sango's voice, "And I'll do what I can. How much time do we have?" Okay, so maybe she was just in high school, but she had wanted to help the boy from the moment she set eyes on him. Things were just going to be a little more immediate than she had planned on.  
  
"Well, we were given a two week notice on Tuesday, so I would say we have about 12 days."  
  
"Okay," Kagome said. Twelve days. Oh dear. Within twelve days, she, Kagome Higurashi, senior class honors student, was going to help a top government secret to escape.

Within twelve days, she was going to become a federal criminal.  
  
She guessed it was time to start planning.


	6. Kagome Lays Some Groundwork

A/N: So sorry this has taken me so long! I have become swamped with end-of- the-year madness. Just a warning that updating may take me a bit longer for the next couple of weeks. But don't worry, I'm still thinking and planning for this story...  
  
Disclaimer: Don't own it. Yet...  
  
6. Kagome Lays Some Groundwork  
  
As Kagome walked up the steps to her house, her mind was whirling like crazy. She had the feeling that, if it could have, it would have made a mad dash for one of her nostrils and attempted a break for freedom. Luckily, the laws of physics and biology currently forbade that course of action. Instead, Kagome pushed open the door to the house, ignoring the traditional rusty squeak ("it gives the house an air of charm!") and wandered into the living room.  
  
With an absentminded greeting for both her mother and her little brother, Kagome headed through the house and up the stairs to her bedroom. Once inside her sanctuary, she exhaled. The sun was shining through the window, a light breeze was ruffling the curtains, and her bed was looking extremely inviting. Plopping down right in the center, Kagome lay back and stared at the ceiling.  
  
Directly above her head was a crack that had been there as long as she could remember. Depending on the angle it was viewed from, it either looked like a scottish terrier with a fedora or a mouse with a really pointy nose. At that moment, it looked like a scottish terrier, which persona she had, in her infancy, named "Bob." The mouse, of course, was "Snaggletooth Mousington the Third."  
  
Staring up at Bob, Kagome winced. "Dogs," she said out loud, a mixture of disgust, terror, bewilderment, and fascination coloring her tone. Dogs were the reason she was about to get into so much trouble. Or, to be more specific, dog-boys. Especially dog- boys named Inuyasha. That and her stupid inability to say no. Sango had explained to her that she and Miroku had overheard the conversation that she had had with Inuyasha and had decided that they wanted to help her in her quest to liberate Inuyasha. Kagome paused for a moment out of sympathy for the world. She had a feeling that Inuyasha might cause a bit of a stir.  
  
Although Sango had not spelled it out for her in so many words, Kagome could easily see why she, the innocent high-schooler who'd never even so much as borrowed a pencil and then forgotten to return it, was being asked to mastermind a jailbreak from a highly secure government lab of a potentially dangerous individual whom she had met just once. No one would suspect the anonymous school-girl. That is, not until she turned up missing at exactly the same time as a certain notorious yellow-eyed boy who happened to be an inhabitant of her current place of part-time employment.  
  
"Shit," Kagome said to Bob, "I think I may be in a little over my head."  
  
She fought down an imminent panic attack. Just because she was about to violate about a gazillion federal laws to break a boy she hardly even knew out of an unfair imprisonment did not give her any excuse for a panic attack. She could do this. She was logical. She was sneaky. Okay, maybe not sneaky, but damn if she wasn't tenacious.  
  
"Plus," she reminded Bob, "there's no one else to do it. Sango and Miroku could lose their jobs. He has no one else to turn to." Of course, she could lose her future, but she wasn't going to think about that right now.  
  
Kagome glared at Bob, but gave it up with a sigh and a squeeze of her pillow. She was going to help him anyhow, so there was no point in obsessing. "I'll do it!" she announced to Bob, with what she hoped was a dangerous glint in her eye. Actually, it was more like an exaggerated squint, but at least she was trying.  
  
Ok, so maybe she barely knew Inuyasha. It didn't matter; he deserved as much a chance at life as anyone else. He had never done anything wrong, at least not that she knew of, and he was being held against his will. It didn't matter that she hardly knew him; he still needed her help. And his great body and sexy yellow eyes had nothing whatsoever to do with her decision.  
  
Besides, she'd given Sango her word and promised to come up with a plan by Saturday, at which point they could all work out any bugs together.  
  
That is, after someone broke the news to Inuyasha.  
  
An hour and a half of intense plotting later, Kagome's bedroom was littered with little scraps of balled up paper. But she had the start of a plan. Now she just needed to go and lay some groundwork.  
  
"Hey mom," she called as she toddled into the kitchen. "Where'd mom go?" she asked, turning towards Souta, who was wriggling around in one of the corner cupboards.  
  
"I think she's out back," Souta replied without exiting his cupboard. Mrs. Higurashi had recently discovered a latent passion for gardening and now spent all of her free time trying to turn their backyard into an earthly paradise.  
  
"Thanks," Kagome said. She'd given up trying to understand her little brother, she found that it was best to just ignore him and move on. Kagome exited the kitchen and soon her mother turning up soil with a spade in preparation for some late spring bulb-planting.  
  
"Hey mom!" Kagome chirped, then winced. Way too chipper a tone, her mother was going to be suspicious. A teenager should never show too much enthusiasm she reminded herself.  
  
She was right. Mrs. Higurashi straightened up and eyed her only daughter, absently dragging a hand across her forehead as she did so. "What's up?" she asked her unusually cheerful daughter. Like all good parents, she recognized the tone that Kagome used whenever she was about to ask for something she thought she might have to beg for.  
  
Kagome toned down her nervous smile a little and tried again. "Well, you know how spring break is coming up?" she asked.  
  
"Of course I do," Mrs. Higurashi smiled, "I think you mention it just about every day."  
  
"Right, well, I was just thinking," Kagome paused, the next part was the bit that she really didn't want to mess up on, "We aren't doing anything this year are we?"  
  
"You know we aren't," her mother answered. "We talked about this a while ago. It's just not financially feasible this year. You said you were okay with it."  
  
"I am, I am," Kagome hastened to reassure her mother. Didn't want her to start feeling defensive. "The thing is, I was talking to Eri the other day, and we were thinking, umm."  
  
"Yes?" Mrs. Higurashi prompted.  
  
Kagome cleared her throat, which had mysteriously just become very dry. She really wasn't the best liar in the world, having been built along the lines of "open and innocent" rather than "devious and sly," but she was giving it her best shot.

"We were thinking maybe I could, um, go and visit her for a while in the city...?" Kagome let her voice trail off, very aware of her mother's scrutiny. It was a plausible setup. Eri had been one of Kagome's best friends in primary school until her family had moved away.  
  
"I think that's a great idea," Mrs. Higurashi gushed to Kagome's astonishment. "But first, what about your job? And what do her parents think about it? And how will you get there? And how long will you stay? Do you think I should talk with her parents?"  
  
Kagome stared at her, feeling mildly overwhelmed by, and thoroughly unprepared for, the flood of questions. And then the last one seeped in. "Huh? Oh, no, um, no, it's uh, no. You don't have to call her parents. See, we, er, we don't quite have everything squared away yet. I'm still waiting for an email confirmation from her, and then I'll start worrying about all that other stuff. But you are saying that it's okay on this end, right?"  
  
"Yes, of course dear," said Mrs. Higurashi. "I think it's very important for you keep in touch with your old friends." Then she picked her spade back up, and began turning more soil.  
  
Kagome left to go back inside, oh so happy that her mother had this new gardening obsession to keep her from paying too close attention to her children's lives. "Thank god for spring break," she said as she walked into the kitchen, feeling only a little bit guilty for being so deceptive. Maybe she would go and see Eri over part of the break, just to keep from being a total liar. Besides, she reminded herself, it was all for a noble cause.  
  
The next day, with the prospect of seeing the "noble cause" face to face right in front of her, Kagome was feeling slightly more nervous. She hoped he wouldn't try to strangle her again.  
  
It was a good thing Sango had waited until Thursday to tell her everything, because Kagome could hardly sit through school that Friday. She couldn't concentrate on any of her classes. Instead, she kept seeing Inuyasha's face on the blackboard, growling at her. "Please diagram this sentence, Kagome" sounded like "Trying to kill me, are they? I'm going to kill you, Kagome." Not that she didn't trust him. Okay, so maybe she didn't, but she was still sure that he was going to turn out to be really nice. Probably he was a real softie on the inside and just didn't want to ruin his image.

When the bell rang, she was out of that building faster than a pigeon on a piece of stale bread. The evening was spent pacing around the house, waiting for work the next day. And work the next day was spent in avoiding Kikyo and counting the minutes until she could see everyone and tell them her plan.

Finally, her work day, another eight long hours spent alternating between the filing cabinet and the washing-up sink, came to an end. Kagome punched out at the usual time, but instead of going out to her car and driving home, she went to the payphone in the lobby and called her mother.  
  
A little bit of Kikyo-bashing later ("Mom, I hate my boss, she's so unfair...making me stay late again. Can't I just come home? ") and her mother was practically ordering her to spend the night in the lab if need be. It was amazing how easy adults were to manipulate, Kagome felt. They would let you do anything as long as they though you didn't want to do it.  
  
After that Kagome had a few hours to kill. She decided to putter around the downtown area a little, maybe pick up dinner.

Several hours later, Kagome Higurashi, school-girl and soon to be wanted person, her stomach full, re-entered the Smollet laboratory. With almost no hesitation, she followed the maze of corridors that led to the door to Inuyasha's chamber. Outside the door stood Miroku, his hair in a jaunty ponytail. "Come on," he said, "I'll let you in. And after you tell him, call us--we'll be watching on the monitors--and we'll go over everything together." Kagome nodded to him, and he opened the door.  
  
As she stepped through into darkness, Kagome heard the door click shut behind her. A feeling of déjà vu swept over her. She was locked in with no way out and no more excuses. She really was going to go through this. Well, first step was to tell him. She took a deep breath.

"Inuyasha?" she said, groping for a light switch. Why was it so dark in there? 


	7. A Council of War

A/N: Okay, here's the next chapter. Finally starting to move things along...  
  
Disclaimer: Don't own it.  
  
7. A Council of War  
  
He took it a lot better than she'd expected him too. Actually, a lot better than any of them had expected him to. After all, no one likes to hear that the government is out to terminate their existence. But then, Inuyasha had a lot less confidence in the government than most...  
  
"Those bastards," was all the commentary he offered after Kagome completed her story, "I always figured they'd come after me someday."  
  
Inuyasha looked at the high school girl who was once again seated across from him in his chair. He hadn't really expected her to come back, and he'd spent most of the week trying very hard not to think about her. After all, if you didn't form expectations, then you didn't have to worry that they wouldn't be met. Nevertheless, he hadn't changed out of his clothes at the usual time that Saturday evening, although he had shut off the light and climbed into bed, ordering himself to sleep. He had reminded himself not to be disappointed if she didn't show up again. But she had come.  
  
"There's one more thing," said the girl who was currently occupying his thoughts, looking up from the hands she was twining together to meet his eyes. "You should know that they have agents here watching you."  
  
"Keh," Inuyasha snorted, "I've had agents watching me my entire life. Like this place'd be any different."  
  
Kagome glanced at him. So he was going to play the tough guy was he? Well fine. If it'd been her who'd just learned that there were people watching her every move and people who were out to kill her, she would have been screaming and running around, probably even clawing at the door. But she could see that the tough guy exterior was important to the dogboy. "Just thought you should know," she said.  
  
Suddenly he thought of something. "Hey, just wait a minute. How is it that you know all of this stuff?"  
  
"Sango told me," she replied.  
  
"Sango?"  
  
"Yeah, she's one of the agents. I don't know if you've met her directly or not."  
  
"I don't think so. Who's the other?"  
  
"Miroku," Kagome answered.  
  
"The night janitor?" one of Inuyasha's ears flicked. Kagome was beginning to suspect that the best way to judge the boy's emotional state was to watch the activity of his ears. In this case, the left-hand one had moved rapidly from front to side then back. She made a mental note of it.  
  
"I know," she rolled her eyes, "he doesn't seem any more responsible than a cat with a mouse in its mouth does he? But Sango says he's good at his job."  
  
In the monitoring room, Miroku nudged Sango in the ribs (for once), "You actually said that about me?" he asked.  
  
"Don't let it go to your head," Sango replied, carefully avoiding his eyes.  
  
Miroku felt a triumphant flush cross his face. So she did think something of him. Then he turned his attention back to the monitor where Inuyasha and Kagome were still discussing recent events.  
  
"Oh, so Sango warned you did she?" an odd tone crept into Inuyasha's voice. "Why?"  
  
"I don't know. Maybe you should ask her yourself. Besides, we'll need their help if we're going to get you out of here." Kagome said, without pausing to decipher the hesitation that had just marred the dog boy's usually confident tone. They would never get anywhere if she paused for every fleeting insecurity.  
  
As Inuyasha watched with faint trepidation, Kagome turned her face to the left hand corner of the ceiling. "Sango, Miroku," she called, "we're ready for you."  
  
In the monitoring room, Miroku chuckled. "Just where exactly does she think the cameras are, anyway?" he asked, watching the back of her head. Somehow Kagome had managed to find the one section in the small room that didn't have any recording equipment in it at all.  
  
"At least it makes for a good effect," Sango said with a smile.  
  
"I think we're going to have to give her a few pointers," Miroku added. And they both sobered up quickly, feeling slightly guilty about what they were getting the high school girl into.  
  
Kagome and Inuyasha were both staring at the doorway as the two agents entered the room. Kagome with suppressed excitement, and Inuyasha with obvious mistrust.  
  
"Hi, I'm Sango," said the tall woman with the friendly smile she had used on Kagome earlier that week. She crossed the room to stand directly in front of the teenager seated cross-legged on the bed and held out her hand. He ignored it and instead snapped out, "badge." Sango sighed, but she had expected this. Reaching her hand into a pocket, she pulled out her badge and flipped it open. Inuyasha scanned it quickly, then said, "Miroku?" The erstwhile janitor put a hand into his coveralls and pulled out a small black case. Flipping it open with the practiced ease of an agent who knows a badge will impress the ladies, he moved closer so the boy on the bed could inspect it. The badges looked genuine to Inuyasha which was really confusing. He had been sure that they had just been playing a prank on Kagome's too-gullible mind.  
  
He looked up at them. "So, why should I trust you guys? Why would you want to help me?"  
  
The agents exchanged glances, then, as one, moved back to sit against the wall. The problem with attempting to free dog boys was that, having been isolated their entire lives, they'd never learned to trust anyone. Inuyasha was no exception.  
  
"Well," said Sango, "it's like this." She paused to look at Miroku for help, but he was toying with one of his sleeves, obviously prepared to let her field that last question. "Ok," she continued as her foot accidentally became momentarily entangled with Miroku's shin, "we've been watching you for over a year now. And sometimes, when you watch someone else for that long, you sort of lose your distance towards them. That's why you get moved around every two years or so."  
  
Kagome was nodding as she listened. It made sense to her. Of course Inuyasha was so irresistible that they had to move him around to keep everyone from getting too attached. She herself was having that urge to rub his ears again.  
  
Inuyasha, perhaps a little bit more clear-sighted as to the extent of his personal charms, was a bit harder to convince. He crossed his arms and tried to look authoritative, "Go on."  
  
"Well, so maybe we agree with Kagome that you don't deserve to be locked up."  
  
"Yeah," Miroku had finally decided to be helpful, "I mean, we got to thinking, a life where the only other people you can...appreciate...are being paid to analyze you. Sounds like hell to me. Even if some of the people are really quite attractive," he added as an afterthought. Sango's foot twitched but she continued on.  
  
"And then when they said they were going to kill you, that was just it. Enough."  
  
"There are some lines that even I don't cross," added Miroku. "Plus you haven't done anything especially wrong."  
  
"At least not yet," Sango said with a warning glare, "and we are not helping you escape just so that you can, understood?" Inuyasha nodded.  
  
"Ok, I'm going to believe you guys. For now," he might've had reservations, but the fact was, reservations weren't going to do him much good if they never got outside of his twelve by fourteen foot chamber.  
  
The preliminaries now over, they all turned expectant faces toward Kagome. She looked back at them, Sango and Miroku seated side by side on the floor, shoulders almost touching, Inuyasha lording it over them all from the bed. She was relieved to note that he was wearing clothes this time. Much less distracting.  
  
Kagome took a deep breath. "Alright guys, so here's what I've been thinking. We're going to need your help, Sango and Miroku, to get him out of here. Next week my spring break starts, so if we can get him out of here on Saturday, I've made plans to 'visit' an old friend in the city. But then I'm really not sure. Where do we go? What do we do? How long will this last?"  
  
"Wait a minute," a loud voice growled from the bed, "I don't need a babysitter. Why does the wench have to go with me?"  
  
Sango frowned at him from the floor, "Yes, you do," she spoke briskly. "Miroku and I won't help you unless you are with someone who has not lived their entire life behind locked doors with a team of experts taking care of their every need. Besides, we need to be sure that we can get in touch with you if we have to."  
  
Inuyasha frowned back at the brunette. Shit. Looked like he wasn't being given much of an option. After all, if he could've escape on his own, he would've done it long ago. So he would give in. For now.  
  
"But," Kagome spoke up, interrupting the battle of wills going on around her, "I still don't know how to get him out of here and where to go once we reach the city. Plus we don't have much money."  
  
Sango nodded approvingly. Kagome would do well, she was practical, she was able to move things along, and she was also able to ignore Inuyasha's occasional brash rudeness.  
  
"Miroku and I can help with the money," she said as beside her, Miroku appeared to be counting on his fingers, "and we may know a place you can go to."  
  
"What?" said Miroku, his head jerking up. Sango gave him a significant glance, which was not unnoticed by their two companions. "Oh, right," he subsided.  
  
"Inuyasha, what do you think?" Kagome asked.  
  
"Think of what?" he answered, "seems like a pretty incomplete plan."  
  
Kagome rolled her eyes. "It's not done yet, stupid. We just wanted to know how you felt about everything so far."  
  
He felt frustratingly passive--it was not in his nature to sit still and let everyone else plan his future for him. But he settled for a snort and a "keh."  
  
"Good then," said Kagome and she turned back to the agents.  
  
The four of them sat there, plotting for the next hour and a half. By the time Kagome left that evening, they had a rough plan of action for the following weekend.  
  
Seven days until Kagome became an official criminal. Seven days until Inuyasha got to see what it was like not to be locked in at night. Oh boy. 


	8. Preparations

A/N: Hey guys! Here's the final set-up chapter. I was going to take a little longer with it, but then decided to just plow through it so I can start getting to the interesting stuff. Next chapter: Jailbreak!  
  
Disclaimer: Don't own Inu and Co.  
  
8. Preparations  
  
Inuyasha was in the gym, getting his prescribed hour of physical activity for the morning. Sango was sipping a black coffee in her apartment, toasting a bagel. Miroku was still asleep, dreaming dreams that it is perhaps best not to inquire about too closely. None of them were consciously thinking about the conversation of the previous evening, except for Kagome.  
  
Kagome was spending her lunch break standing outside Kikyo's office door. She needed to get time off for spring break, or springing Inuyasha, as she called it to herself. Kikyo was, not surprisingly, making her wait.  
  
"No respect," Kagome was grumbling to herself just as the door in front of her swung open.  
  
"Kagome?" Kikyo's familiar chilly tones iced their way out into the hallway, like a vanilla milkshake being poured slowly into a frosty glass. "You wanted to see me about something?"  
  
Kagome took a deep breath and stepped into the den. Or ice cavern. She greeted her supervisor with a small smile and pulled up a chair in front of the large desk.  
  
"Hi Kikyo," she said and then paused. Crap. She was going to have to come up with a better start than that. Kikyo just stared at her silently, one eyebrow delicately lifted.  
  
"Umm," Kagome continued in her smoothest manner, "I wanted to ask you a question. See, our spring break is coming up next week and I wanted to talk about the possibility of getting some time off."  
  
Silence fell, blanketing the room, as Kikyo swivelled a bit in her chair. A lone dust mote floated briefly into Kagome's line of sight before disappearing below the desk.  
  
"You realize that you are generally expected to give a two week notice when you want to adjust your schedule?"  
  
"Yes, I do, and I'm sorry about that," Kagome twisted her fingers together. "See, we've just barely made plans to leave town. I only found out about it this morning myself." Kagome sighed internally. She was going to be a hardened liar by the time she was finished with this little episode in her life.  
  
Kikyo looked about as inviting as a glacial lake on the top of a mountain in January is to a California nudist. But as she stared at Kagome, her expression flickered, a ripple of emotion running like a small wavelet over her features. "Very well," she said, "we will re-schedule you next week. How long were you planning on being away?"  
  
Now that, Kagome realized, was the million dollar question. She'd no clue how long everything was going to take. In fact, her plans were incredibly vague. She hadn't thought about the long-term goal for Inuyasha. Rehabilitation into society? Although she wasn't sure that society was ready for him. "I won't be able to come in for the next two weekends," she said. Hopefully that would be enough. Spring break didn't last forever, either. And it would give her some time in which to introduce Inuyasha to the world, at which point hopefully he would figure out his own future.  
  
"Right," the note of dismissal was plain in Kikyo's voice. "Next time, please don't be so late to inform me of any changes in your schedule."  
  
"Thank you, Kikyo," Kagome backed out of the room. It could have gone much, much worse. Somehow it had all seemed a little too easy.  
  
Of course, she still had to face her mother.  
  
After work that day, Kagome Higurashi placed a very important phone call.  
  
"Eri?" she spoke into the receiver.  
  
"Kags! Hey! How's it going?!" Kagome had forgotten about Eri's tendency to speak in exclamation points. She held the receiver a little further from her ear.  
  
"Hey, Eri, you trust me right?" Kagome spoke quickly, before the other girl could race off into some enthusiastic rant about the benefits of shopping on long-term memory, or something.  
  
"Of course I do," Eri's enthusiastic voice came, innocent as a lamb, over the wire.  
  
"Good. In that case, I have a crazy story to tell you."  
  
The small bedroom echoed with the sound of a young girl's voice, talking quickly and a little breathlessly.  
  
An hour later, a nervous Kagome was wandering down the stairs, a small piece of paper clutched in her hand. She had not, of course, been entirely honest with Eri. These days she was not entirely honest with anyone. It was just another lie piled onto the already teetering pile which had become her life.  
  
"Hey mom," she called, drifting into the living room where Mrs. Higurashi and Souta were busy at a game of battleship.  
  
"C-7!" Mrs. Higurashi said. "Yes dear? What is it?"  
  
"Miss!" crowed Souta.  
  
"I was just on the phone with Eri, "Kagome said, waving around the little piece of paper, "and she says everything is fine on their end. I can go and stay with them, no problem."  
  
"And work?" said her mother.  
  
"D-4," said Souta.  
  
"I talked with Kikyo today, and she gave me the next two weeks off."  
  
"Miss," said Mrs. Higurashi. "Hmm, she just gave it to you, no fuss? C- 3."  
  
"Erm, well, I sort of told her it was a family vacation." Kagome shuffled her feet.  
  
Mrs. Higurashi frowned, but was interrupted by Souta. "Hit."  
  
"Ha! I knew you had one there somewhere!" she exclaimed, grabbing a small yellow peg.  
  
"Anyhow," Kagome said, before her mother remembered her lecture, "I'm thinking of taking a train. Here's the list of ones available for next Saturday." She shoved the paper at her mother.  
  
"Okay," said Mrs. Higurashi, "you're old enough to be doing this on your own. As long as you make sure to let me know when all your plans are set. And I want numbers that I can contact you at, and dates as to when you'll be back. Understood?"  
  
Kagome nodded. "Yep," she grinned at her mother, who had just inexplicably turned into a reasonable person, before heading back up to her room. Things were beginning to fall into place.  
  
That Friday, Kagome could be found in her room, having a chat with Bob, the ceiling terrier. He was just such a good listener.  
  
"Alright, Bob, everything is set. I got the tickets today, I've arranged an alibi, I even packed already." Bob looked impressed.  
  
"Thank god Eri is so boy-obsessed," added Kagome. Luckily her friend had swallowed the heavily edited version of events that Kagome had told her. Actually, heavily edited was probably a slight exaggeration. Other than saying she wanted to see a boy ("So hot, Eri!") in the city, Kagome had not really told her friend anything. Somehow she didn't think that Inuyasha, not to mention Sango and Miroku, would appreciate her telling the entire story to a girl that they didn't know.  
  
Eri probably wouldn't have believed it anyway.  
  
"Besides, Bob," Kagome finished her thought out loud, "it was for her own good." Bob still looked mildly accusatory. "I can't tell anyone!" Bob was silent. Not that this was an unusual state for him. Kagome pulled her pillow over her head.  
  
Ok, so she was feeling a little guilty, all right, a lot guilty, and maybe a bit nervous as well. Tomorrow was the day when all her plans would go into action. She hoped she was ready.  
  
Then she laughed, "Ha, but Bob, seriously. You should've heard Eri's voice. I think she's so relieved that I've finally got a boy that she's not going to ask any questions. She nearly pierced my ear drum when she screamed like that."  
  
Somewhere in a very tall building, a thin man was seated behind a large wooden desk. His expression, as he looked at the man in front of him, was similar to that of a pop diva who'd just been told that she had to do her own make-up.  
  
"You mean to say you haven't done anything at all?" he said. A close observer, hell, any person with eyes, except apparently the young man standing in front of him, would have easily sensed his displeasure.  
  
"Well, but, you said..." Kouga stuttered to a stop, "And, plus...wrap up.... my old case...?" Hey look, eight knots on the board! Same as the last time he had stood there, almost two weeks ago. If he'd been the knots, he would rather have been in a piece of firewood. A brief life followed by an agonizingly painful death would be preferable to living in Naraku's office, a place that Kouga was rapidly coming to hate. Somehow, he never seemed to shine his brightest when he was in there.  
  
"I said what?" Naraku's voice had gotten even softer. Kouga gulped, now he was in for it.  
  
"You said, umm, not to rush things?" He hated it when his voice squeaked like that—he was no longer 13 years old, dammit.  
  
"Ah. Yes. I did say that, didn't I?" Naraku's yes followed the nervous twitching of his subordinate's fingers. "Fair enough. But I did intend for you to start clearing the way, making plans. He is very strong, and, while not the quickest bunny in the hutch, he does possess some rudimentary intelligence. He's not going to allow you to just walk up to him and pop him one. You understand now?"  
  
"Yes sir," Kouga answered, straightening a little. That was far milder than he'd anticipated. Naraku's new girlfriend must be some babe, he decided.  
  
"Now go. And try not to be incompetent."  
  
"Yes sir, I'll try sir, thank you sir," Kouga backed out of the office. It looked like he was going to have to do some work this weekend after all.  
  
At least he could tape the cartoons so it wouldn't be a complete waste of time. 


	9. Jailbreak

A/N: Hey guys. It does continue! Sorry for the long delay, I've been having a very hectic summer. Anyhow, here is the long-promised chapter 9. I just put the page breaks again, but haven't really done my re-edit for this section. Hope it makes more sense this way!

Disclaimer: Still don't own it.  
  
9. Jailbreak  
  
Saturday, like all good weekends should, dawned bright and sunny. Kagome, up early for perhaps the only time in her life, was seated on the edge of her bed watching a bluebird on her window. She felt a sudden urge to burst into song.  
  
"Today, today, today, today, today!" she trilled. All right, so apparently she wasn't the world's greatest lyrical songwriter. And, judging by the bird's hasty flight from her windowsill, apparently she wasn't the world's greatest vocal talent either. But she didn't care. Finally they were going to get Inuyasha's jailbreak underway.  
  
Actually, she was kind of angry that she was up so early, because that meant that she had the entire day in front of her. An entire day in which to obsess and worry about the plan despite the fact that it was far too late to change anything.  
  
She went over to her bureau to check and make sure the tickets were still there. They were. They had not grown little paper legs and scuttled off the dresser top during the night, racing for parts unknown. Then she pulled open her closet and took down her duffel bags. Still all packed. Then she counted her money. That done, she decided to have one last look at her tickets.  
  
It was going to be a long day.

XXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXX

At eleven thirty, Inuyasha was in the gym getting his prescribed hour of morning exercise and having more than a little trouble concentrating. Each footstep that echoed on the treadmill seemed to be saying, "Tonight, tonight, tonight." After two and a half miles, he moved off to go tussle with the punching bag.  
  
"You sure seem to have a lot of energy today," a young woman, one of the aides monitoring him, said. She had only been working with Inuyasha for two or three weeks and was still constantly surprised by his physical stamina.  
  
"Thanks," he replied shortly, not at all sure that that was the proper response.

XXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXX

At four that afternoon, Sango and Miroku had taken up their assigned places in the monitoring room. Miroku told a few slightly off-color jokes to the agents who had the day shift, and they all laughed awkwardly before heading on their way.  
  
Sango looked over at him and rolled her eyes. "No stopping you, is there?" she asked.  
  
"Nope," Miroku smiled, "You've gotta live, you know."  
  
"If that's life..." Sango let her voice trail off. This exchange had become a ritual between the two of them. Tradition practically.  
  
"So, are we ready for this evening?" Miroku asked, settling himself into one of the large swivel chairs.  
  
"Mostly, I think," Sango answered. "I saw Kagome earlier this week and gave her the address and some money. She says she's got the tickets and everything is all planned out on her end. But she did mention one thing that I hadn't thought about."  
  
"What's that?"  
  
"She asked what we were going to do about the surveillance tapes. Obviously, those are going to be requested as soon as he turns up missing. And she pointed out that it might be better if she didn't appear to have any sort of connection with him at all."  
  
"Hmm," Miroku stroked his beardless chin. There were occasions when he thought that growing some nice facial hair would really suit him. Make his jaw line look a little more masculine for one, and also provide something to do when he was thinking. "She's right. Luckily..." he paused and reached into his jacket, "I've already thought of it!"  
  
"What are those?" Sango asked, staring at the two video cassettes that he was holding out to her.  
  
"Look. They're the two nights that Kagome visited Inuyasha's room. You remember my friend, um 'Bob' right? Well, he owed me a little favour, so I got him to take a peek at these."  
  
"You mean Bob, the guy whose porn collection you officially raided and then let off the hook? That Bob?"  
  
"That's the one. Anyhow, he's good with a computer, and he had some recording equipment, so he just copied over another night when Inu was sleeping and no one interrupted, and spliced it onto these films. Check it out."  
  
Sango placed one of the videos into the VCR in the room and fast-forwarded to the evening. "Okay," she said. "He did a really good job. As long as no one looks too carefully, we should be fine. Also as long as no one realizes that the sheets change colour in the middle of the night."  
  
"Well," Miroku sighed, "you can't ask for everything. This way, even if they know they've been tampered with, they can't know what used to be on them."  
  
"Point," Sango conceded. Then, with a glance at his face, she added, "It's good. I'm glad you thought of it."  
  
"I always knew you found me irresistible," Miroku smiled. Sango rolled her eyes. It was time for ritual two, the tradition in which she found her elbow accidentally bumping into his ribs.

XXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXX

At six, Kagome was playing with her dinner. With her knife, she shaped her mashed potatoes into a ramp, and then began rolling her peas down them. "Ten points," she muttered as one pea rolled all the way across her plate and hit a pork chop.  
  
"Kagome," said her mother, "you seem a little on edge today. Are you sure you have everything ready for your trip?"  
  
"Yep," Kagome replied, "Don't forget that I'm going to be staying with a friend tonight near the train station, then I'll be leaving tomorrow morning."  
  
"I didn't forget," her mother gave her a dry look, "This is a friend from work, right?"  
  
"Mm-hmm," Kagome answered, stuffing the rest of her pork chop into her mouth and standing up from the table. "Time to go! Don't worry, I'll call you from Eri's at some point tomorrow okay?" She started to head for the door.  
  
"Okay," Mrs. Higurashi replied. "Oh, and Kagome?"  
  
"Yes," Kagome stopped at the door and turned back, her stomach sinking. Somehow, her mother had found out that she wasn't going to Eri's at all. That it was all just one big lie. She tried to smile at her mother.  
  
"Don't forget your bags." Kagome glanced down at her empty hands. Smooth, she thought to herself. "Oh, and I need to drive you since I want the car back." Double smooth, she told herself.  
  
"Right mom, I'll just go and get them then." Kagome ran up the stairs to find money, tickets, and bags all waiting for her. Breathing heavily, she emerged from the house five minutes later, popped her bags into the trunk of the car, and jumped into the passenger seat. With absolutely no vroom whatsoever (a start which Kagome found inappropriate to the beginning of her life as a wanted felon) her mother backed the car out of the driveway. "To Smollet!" Kagome exclaimed, trying to salvage the situation.  
  
Her mother glanced at her and rolled her eyes. "Right."

Sango was parked a few blocks away from Smollet. She was waiting by her car when they got there and helped Kagome transfer her bags.  
  
"Don't forget to call me tomorrow," Mrs. Higurashi said, "and have fun!" The Sango and Kagome watched as Kagome's mother drove off.  
  
"Everything ready?" asked Sango.  
  
"Ready," replied Kagome.  
  
"Good. We have to wait 'til most people are gone, but come back at around 11, okay?"  
  
"No problem," Kagome smiled, "the shops love a loitering teenager, right?" She walked off to go and kill a couple of hours.

XXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXX

At eleven, Kagome was back in front of Sango's car. This time it was Miroku who was waiting for her, officially taking his fifteen minute break.  
  
"How're things?" she asked.  
  
"Good," he answered. "We've arranged for a bit of a power failure to go off in about 50 minutes. At that point, Inuyasha is going to smash through his door."  
  
"Smash through?" Kagome repeated with some trepidation. She'd known he was strong, but the door was made of three-inch-thick steel.  
  
"Well, only in a sense," Miroku grinned at her. "Actually, he is going to wait there for Sango to unlock it. But it's electronically locked, and we'll just say that there was a bit of a problem and the back-up power didn't go on. Once he gets out here drive immediately to the train station. We'll have to sound the alarm that he's missing as soon as the power comes back on, but we should be able to give you a good 15-minute head start. What time are those tickets for?"  
  
"12:05 tonight," said Kagome.  
  
"Okay, once you get into the city, give us a call. You have Sango's cell number, right? Hopefully everything will go off all right." Miroku smiled. "Now, how about a hug for luck?" He held out his arms.  
  
"Umm, right," said Kagome, patting him on the shoulder. "Isn't your break over yet?"  
  
"Nobody appreciates me," Miroku sighed as he headed back into the building.

XXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXX

At exactly 11:57, Inuyasha shot out of the lab and headed a few blocks to the right. A small dark shadow detached itself from the bumper of a car.  
  
"Inuyasha?" Kagome's voice sounded uncertain and a little nervous; after all, most teenage girls don't appreciate footsteps running towards them down a dark street in the middle of the night.  
  
"Yeah," he huffed, "Let's go." They jumped into the car, and Kagome fumbled with the ignition key.  
  
"Buckle up," she said, as the engine finally caught and they pulled out into the road.


	10. Where She Stops

A/N: I figured while I have computer access might as well get as much done as possible. Thus, I wrote this chapter a bit faster than usual, so please pardon any typos/grammatical errors!  
  
Disclaimer: Don't own it.  
  
10. Where She Stops...  
  
What Kagome termed to herself as their "Flight into the City" was completely uneventful. Well, except for Inuyasha's tendency to make loud and, Kagome felt, frankly rather cowardly comments from the passenger's seat. She would be driving along just fine when, out of the blue, he would shout out, "A tree! That's a tree! No, turn away from it, wench, away from it!" or, covering his eyes, "Oh god. You do remember which side we're supposed to drive on, don't you?"  
  
As they got out of the car in front of the train station he turned towards her, "Fuck, wench, who taught you how to drive?"  
  
"Just because you've never been in a car before..." she answered loftily. Inuyasha bristled.  
  
"I have too been in cars before. Just none that were driven by blind lunatics."  
  
"Nonsense, Inuyasha. We got here fine. Now hurry up, or we're going to miss our train."  
  
Grabbing the bag that she threw at him, Inuyasha clutched the area where his stomach would have been if, as he was convinced, he hadn't left it about seven miles back on the road behind them and around a particularly sharp curve, and ran after her. Kagome had to bribe him onto the train with a lollipop, but luckily for her slightly nauseated companion the train ride was uneventful.   
  
But now they were at the other end of the train station, and neither of them knew what they were supposed to do next.  
  
"Umm, you mean you didn't plan this half?" Inuyasha glanced at the girl beside him, running a claw through his hair.  
  
"Nope," Kagome replied in the cheerful tones of one who has been up all night, running from the law. "Sango and Miroku said they were going to fix this part for us, but I'm not sure exactly what they had in mind."  
  
"You mean, we're stranded here and we don't know where we're going next?"  
  
"Right in one."  
  
"Oh god," Inuyasha groaned.  
  
"You know, if I'd known you were going to be such a big baby..." Kagome's voice trailed off as the cell phone in her pocket began to vibrate. She'd forgotten that Sango had given it to her for the trip. Pulling it out and flipping it open gave her a good reason to stop the current fight with Inu. Not that she didn't enjoy their "spirited debates", but she felt that having one now would be counterproductive to their eventual goal, along with making them both conspicuous.  
  
"Hello?" she said.  
  
"It's Sango," the young woman's voice came clearly over the line. "Did you make it all right?"  
  
"Yeah, we're fine. Inuyasha is a big chicken though," she grinned at the young man who was currently standing in front of her rolling his eyes.  
  
"Okay great. So, I bet you're wondering about where you're staying, huh? Are you still on the platform or have you gone into the lobby."  
  
"We're in the lobby."  
  
"Good. Now, look around you. Do you see a bench in front of a sandwich shop? There should be an older woman sitting on the right hand side. She'll be holding a book."  
  
"Would that be..." Kagome squinted her eyes to try and bring the book's title into focus, "umm, 'Keeping it Clean: Satisfaction for the Fastidious Older Woman'?"  
  
"Miroku!" Inuyasha could hear Sango's outraged squawk, "What have you been giving her to read?!" followed by a muted 'thunk' which he strongly suspected was the sound of Sango's fist hitting the monk's abdomen.  
  
"You have a dirty mind," he could hear the male agent protesting, "It's only about the difficulties of keeping on top of the housework as one's joints begin to go."  
  
"And 'housework' is a code word for what, exactly?" Sango's voice was still outraged. Kagome cleared her throat.  
  
"Umm, sorry to interrupt guys, but what am I supposed to do now?"  
  
"Oh right," Sango's voice came back on the line, slightly breathless. Kagome spent an idle moment wondering just exactly what it was that she had done to her hapless partner. Whatever it was, they seemed to be enjoying themselves.  
  
"It's pretty simple. Just walk up to her and say 'Kaede, Miroku sent us'. Got it?"  
  
"Alrighty," Kagome beamed at the phone, then, realizing it couldn't see her, turned the look on Inuyasha, who backed up nervously. "Talk to you guys soon! Thanks."  
  
"Let's go, Inu!"  
  
"That's Inuyasha to you, wench."  
  
"I see we're back to wench now?" Kagome scolded. "When are you going to learn not to waste energy? Remember, choose your fights. You shouldn't have spent so much time trying to get my name if you aren't even going to use it." Together they strolled up to the bench and the woman sitting on it.  
  
Kaede, despite her choice of reading material, appeared to be an extremely proper elderly woman. After hearing the greeting given to her by Kagome (Inuyasha, overcome by a sudden bout of shyness, had tried to hide behind the smaller girl despite the obvious physical impracticality of such a move), she carefully looked the two of them up an down before speaking.  
  
"So. You are the ones sent to me by that rascal, are you?"  
  
"Yes ma'am," said Kagome, whose manners had been drilled into her at a very early age.  
  
"Hmph. Well, let's get you home and to bed then."  
  
Inuyasha, who had shot a sudden nervous glance at Kaede's book at the word "bed", hoped very much that the old woman's reading material was as innocent as Miroku had claimed. Somehow he doubted it though--"innocent" and "Miroku" were two words that didn't belong together in the same sentence.  
  
xxx  
  
Kouga was having one hell of a morning and the sun hadn't even risen yet. At this rate, he wasn't even going to be able to tape his cartoons. He sighed, blue eyes highlighted by the shadows beneath them. six hours earlier he had been awakened from a sound sleep and one of his favorite dreams (the one in which he was running across a field of daisies well classical music floated softly down from the sky) to hear his favorite boss on the other end of the line.  
  
"There's been a slight complication at the lab. Inuyasha is missing."  
  
"Wha--? Who?" Kouga was not one of those who, upon waking, immediately solves quantum equations and believes six impossible things before breakfast. Rather, he belonged to the group who stare blankly at a mug of coffee flavored with salt, trying desperately to remember how to get the contents from the cup into their mouth.  
  
"Inuyasha," the voice repeated, "teenager, part dog, you're supposed to kill him. Remember?"  
  
"Kill? Who...me? Where...the daisies?" Kouga was having more than a little trouble trying to separate the dream from the reality. "Cartoons?" he asked.  
  
A loud sigh came across the line. "Kouga. You are an agent, trained by me. Your current assignment is Inuyasha. It is an assignment of a somewhat sensitive nature, but you were supposed to take care of it this week. Now your assignment has gone missing. I expect you to find it and take care of it. Now." Honestly. On the other side of the line, Naraku pinched the bridge of his nose. It was a wonder they got anything done at all really. Although, on the plus side, they would probably never lose any sensitive information to an enemy agent--you had to have the information before it could be lost. "Try going to the labs first," he offered, realizing that otherwise Kouga would never get anything done.  
  
"I'm on my way, sir," Kouga said, as snappily as he could while trying to put his right arm through the left leg of his trousers.   
  
Next thing he knew, he was standing before Sango and Miroku and it was three in the morning with the possibility of him getting back into his bed, or at least back home to turn on his VCR, looking increasingly slim. And Sango and Miroku weren't being all that helpful either. In fact, Kouga peered at them with some surprise. He didn't remember the two of them as being quite this incapable of thinking on their own the last time he had met them.  
  
"And so then we finally got the back-up power on and he was gone." Sango concluded.  
  
"Yeah," said Miroku.  
  
"And we called the base as soon as we knew," added Sango virtuously.  
  
"Yeah," said Miroku.  
  
"And they called you," said Sango.  
  
"Yeah," said Miroku.  
  
"And I got here as soon as I could," said Kouga, finding himself accidentally falling into their speech patterns. The woman was having an almost hypnotic effect on his sleep-deprived brain. Kouga shook his head. Right. The other two agents were staring at him as if they expected him to do something. He stared back with a lifted eyebrow, until he remembered that he was supposed to be the officer in charge.  
  
"Right, um," he cleared his throat in what he clearly hoped was an official-sounding manner and lowered his voice by about half an octave, "I want a team in his room checking around, I want another team on the parking lot. We need to figure out where he went and how he got there. Oh, and I need to see all the surveillance tapes from the past week or so." He stared at the two in front of him. Nobody seemed to be moving.  
  
"Um, you forgot to turn your radio on," Sango pointed out in her most helpful manner.  
  
"I meant to do that," Kouga said gruffly, fumbling for the button that would transmit his words to the numerous forensics teams that were arriving and milling confusedly around the grounds.  
  
xxx  
  
The rising sun showed teams of white-coated, gloved persons still crawling all over the corridors and grounds of Steele Gov't Laboratory. Sango, watching from an unobtrusive corner, glanced at her watch.  
  
"Hey, Miroku," she hissed at her partner, "peanut butter and jelly must have gotten into the city by now. Did we ever tell them how to find the bread?"  
  
"Shit. No," he answered.  
  
"Okay," she said, "Hand me your phone, I lent mine to peanut butter."  
  
The secret agent sighed. He loved his phone, and though he greatly admired his partner, she did have a tendency to be a just the tiniest bit violent. He hoped she would be gentle with it, but before he could issue a warning the woman in front of him had already placed her call.  
  
"It's Sango," she was saying, "Did you make it all right?" Miroku sent up a silent prayer for his phone, and then tuned in to the conversation. 


	11. First Night Jitters

A/N: Sorry for the long delay... But on the plus side, I have been editing my earlier chapters (gah! The typos!). 1-4 are done. So yay for that! Don't worry, nothing drastic was changed, mostly just some smoothing over. Anyhow, here is a new chapter, just to show that I am still around; I think it is even a little longer than usual. My, I'm feeling so productive today.

Disclaimer: Still don't own anything.

11. First Night Jitters

As they drove through the dark streets, utter silence fell over the car. Inuyasha was yawning in the back seat. Luckily for his stomach, Kaede was a much smoother driver than Kagome. As he began to drift off, Kagome turned to the old woman beside her.

"So, umm, hi," she said, feeling somewhat lame. She hated this part of meeting someone new—especially someone to whom you were indebted.

Kaede glanced at her with amusement.

"Umm, thank you...for letting us stay with you."

"You're welcome, child. It is no problem."

Kagome smiled. The older woman seemed quite approachable. "How do you know Miroku?" She asked, unable to contain her curiosity any longer.

In the dark car, Kaede's face was inscrutable. Without taking her eyes off the road, she replied, "When he was young he needed a place to live. I took him in."

"'Oh," said Kagome, unable to think of any other answer. Her cheeks burned a little. She felt as if she had just inadvertently stumbled onto forbidden territory. Maybe Miroku would tell her later, she thought.

Kaede's face softened a little as she looked at the still very young girl who was hanging her head next to her. She smiled at Kagome, "He was quite a handful in those days," she said.

Looking up, Kagome saw the smile briefly illuminated as they passed under a streetlight. Relieved, she felt her own features stretch in an answering smile. "I can imagine," she said.

The rest of the ride passed in silence. It was not very far to their destination. Kagome gasped as the car pulled up in front of a rather large house, although one side of her mind was preoccupied with noticing how deftly Kaede parallel parked the car.

"It's, it's so big," she said softly.

Kaede, unbuckling her seatbelt with a no-nonsense 'snap,' said "It's been in the family for years. I suppose you could say the city grew up around us."

Kagome nodded and slowly opened her door. In the backseat, Inuyasha finally stirred. "What's going on?" he mumbled, "Why are we stopping?"

"Get up, Inuyasha," Kagome ordered, "We're here."

"Don't order me around, wench," Inuyasha grumbled. Nonetheless he unhooked his seatbelt and opened his door. Stepping out of the car, he noticed the house for the first time. "Holy shit," he said, "Not too bad is it?"

Kaede swept ahead of them and into the big building they were standing in front of. "Come on, you two. I'm sure you must both be tired. It is time for me to show you to your room."

"Room?" Kagome repeated, "As in, just the one?" She resolutely shut out the small corner of her mind that insisted it certainly did not mind sharing a room with the dog-boy.

"Wait a minute," Inuyasha growled, ignoring the butterflies that leapt into his stomach at the idea of sharing a room with Kagome.

"Sorry," replied Kaede, "I'm afraid that is the only room I have available.

"But this house is BIG," said Inuyasha loudly. Kagome's elbow swept into his ribs (she'd picked up an act or two from Sango).

"Don't be rude," she hissed at his chin. She was aiming for his ear, but both of them were way out of her reach. "Kaede's doing us a last-minute favor, so we should be accommodating."

Kaede smiled innocently at the two of them as she stood in the doorway, holding open the door. "Come along now," she said, "I'm not going to stand here all day."

"Of course," said Kagome, "Thank you again for letting us stay with you." She turned towards the dog-boy behind her. "Inuyasha, come on, we're keeping Kaede up."

With a grumble the boy fell into step behind her. Together they followed Kaede up the stairs and into the darkened house. Their room was on the third floor.

"Here you are," Kaede said, sweeping open a door. "This is the only room on this floor, so it's fairly large. There should be plenty of room for the two of you."

"It's perfect," said Kagome, her eyes sweeping around a large rectangular room. On one side, the ceiling came down towards the floor. There was a sofa placed in the area there. Across from the sofa was a dresser; next to the dresser was a pretty large bed and an end table. A half-filled bookcase was the only other piece of furniture in the room.

"The bathroom opens off the room over there, next to the closet," Kaede pointed at two doors down the other end of the room that Kagome had missed from her earlier cursory glance. "Alright, well, goodnight you two. Sleep well."

"You too," Kagome replied automatically, her mind already going to the problem that was facing her at that moment. The bed.

Kaede left, shutting the door softly behind her. As she headed down the stairs, she allowed a small chuckle to escape her lips. She wished there was some way to watch the two of them figure out the sleeping situation. She shook her head. Sometimes she worried that a little bit too much of Miroku had rubbed off on her during those long years when he was growing up.

OOOOOOOOOOOOO

Inside the room, Kagome stared at the bed, a faint blush on her face. Okay, so maybe she was mildly attracted to Inuyasha. After all, that body, those eyes, mmm...

"Umm, Kagome?" Inuyasha waved a claw in front of the schoolgirl's face. She had closed her eyes and her cheeks had turned a little bit pink.

"Yes! What? Nothing!" Kagome said. Shit, she had gotten a little carried away there. Okay, back to the sleeping situation. Just then Inuyasha spoke up.

"I figured we could take turns with the bed. The other person can sleep on the couch."

His unusually diplomatic stance startled the schoolgirl. She also felt a quick tinge of disappointment, which she tried to ignore. After all, their relationship was strictly platonic.

Then why does your stomach flip over every time you see him? A traitorous little voice from deep within asked her. Gah! She told it. Scram! So I think he's cute, no big deal. I am not interested in anything more with Inuyasha! The smile on her face gave the lie to that statement, but luckily she couldn't see herself.

Inuyasha could though. He wondered what it was that she was grinning about it. A quick glance around the room showed him nothing exciting. Not that it was bad, far from it. The sofa looked comfy, so did the bed. And inviting, especially the bed... Really, he shook his head, his subconscious was _so_ not subtle.

The two of them climbed into their respective beds, both preoccupied with their own thoughts.

"Goodnight," Kagome said as she shut off the light.

"Goodnight," Inuyasha answered out of the darkness

OOOOOOOOOOOOOO

The next day had dawned long ago by the time the two teenagers woke up. After all, technically, they had gone to bed after the dawn. Kagome woke first and accidentally awakened Inuyasha.

"What're you thrashing around for?" he grumbled, sitting up and looking over. Kagome appeared to be losing some sort of battle with her sheets.

"Where am I?" she cried, "Why is it so dark?"

With a sigh Inuyasha got off his sofa. He took three long strides until he was standing next to the bed, and then he reached out and plucked the blanket off of Kagome.

"Oh," she said, looking up at him. Her hair was sprawled over the pillow behind her except for one long strand that was tucked into the corner of her mouth.

Inuyasha sighed, then reached out a claw and brushed the hair out of her face.

Kagome gulped, a blush spreading across her face. She had just made an ass of herself, and then Inuyasha had made that incredibly sweet gesture. She wasn't quite sure where to look.

Inuyasha looked panicked. Shit. Did I just do that, he asked himself frantically. Oh god. Must do something to reassert manliness!

"We're at Kaede's, dumbass," he growled. "We got here early this morning, remember?"

Kagome's blush was instantly replaced by a frown. "Thanks," she replied, her voice tart. Then her eyes shifted, and she grinned just a little.

"What? What're you thinking?" Inuyasha backed up nervously.

"Nothing," said Kagome, swinging her feet out of bed. Then she rushed for the bathroom. "Race you to the bathroom!" she called over her shoulder.

"Wench," said Inuyasha. He went back to the sofa to sit down.

He had lost track of the time when the outside door was slowly pushed open. Instantly, Inuyasha was on his feet. "Don't come out, Kagome," he called.

A small, redheaded child poked its head around the corner of the door. "Who're you?" it asked.

"Who'm I?" said Inuyasha, "This is _my_ room. Who are you?"

The small child darted into the room, leaped on all of the furniture, and then ran over to Inuyasha. "I asked first! I asked first! I asked first!" he shouted.

"Why you little brat..."Inuyasha lunged for the kid, but he was too quick. In an instant he had swarmed up the muscular teenager's back and was pulling his hair. "Gah! Get the fuck off me," Inuyasha shouted.

"What's going on out here?" Kagome demanded as she emerged from the bathroom wrapped in a towel. "Inuyasha? What are you doing to that kid?"

"What'm I doing to it? You mean, what is it doing to me!" Inuyasha retorted, angrily trying to grab hold of the little kid who was now gnawing at his head.

"Oh how sweet," Kagome cooed, coming closer. "Hello. My name is Kagome. Who are you?" She held out a hand to the redhead, who had stopped his chewing on Inuyasha to regard her with large green eyes.

"My name is Shippo," he chirped then leaped into her arms. With a laugh, she caught him, very nearly losing hold of her towel as she did so.

"That's Inuyasha," Kagome said, gesturing towards the fuming boy standing in front of them.

Shippo stood up in Kagome's arms to lean against her shoulder. "He's mean," he whispered into her ear.

Kagome laughed while an irritated dog-boy turned bright red.

"Keh," he snorted. "I'm going to take a shower." With that, he stalked out of the room. Kagome looked down at the small boy in her arms and giggled.

"Is he always like that?" Shippo asked.

"Pretty much," Kagome answered with a smile.

OOOOOOOOOOOO

Half an hour later, Inuyasha emerged from the bathroom to find Kagome and Shippo sitting companionably on the bed and chattering away. He rolled his eyes before approaching.

"Oi!" he called.

"Yes?" said Kagome.

"So what're we doing today anyways?"

"Right. Okay, Shippo, why don't you head out for the moment? We'll be downstairs in just a few minutes."

The small boy nodded and walked out the door. Kagome turned back to Inuyasha.

"Well, do you have any ideas?" she asked. "There's some stuff I need to do—call my mom, meet up with Eri. We should start thinking about what you are going to do. Perhaps work? I guess maybe the first thing we should do is get you accustomed to being out of the lab." After all, she didn't want the poor boy to get hit by a car right off the bat or something. They'd better make sure he could function in the real world without drawing too much attention to himself.

"Actually," Kagome surveyed his appearance, "I think we need to find a disguise for you first. Luckily I brought some things!"

Inuyasha smacked his head. "Great," he said sarcastically. Then he paused. Kagome was still wearing her towel and it was beginning to slip a little. "Erm..." he said as his face began to get a little pink.

"What?"

"Umm..."

"What is it?" Kagome asked again. "Oh," she looked down at herself. "I left all my clothes in the bathroom," she explained. "But now that you're out..." She quickly got off the bed and went into the other room.

"I got some clothes for you in that other duffle," she called through the door. "Feel free to go through it."

Inuyasha stood in the middle of the empty room for a minute. The doors were unlocked, he realized. For the first time in his life, he was free. With a huge grin on his face, he went over and unzipped the duffle bag.


	12. Errands

A/N: Hello everyone! As always, thanks so much for your reviews! I love getting feedback from everyone. So, here is the next chapter. I know updates have been slow lately (school seems to be kicking my ass) but I'm trying! Anyhow, I am not entirely satisfied with this chapter, but I figured instead of tinkering with it for ages, I would just put it up. It's a little bit of a filler chapter, but I needed this stuff to happen before I could get on to the rest of my plot. Plus I tried to put just a touch of waff in, but I'm not sure if it worked out. But in any case, enough of my rambling, on with the story!

Disclaimer: In case you missed the last eleven, I would just like to say, for the twelfth time, that Inuyasha and all characters are not mine. I know this will surprise us all.

Chapter 12: Errands

"What the hell _is_ this place," Inuyasha growled, peering over Kagome's shoulder as they descended the stairs. His ears were twitching like crazy as all around them he could hear the sound of small feet scampering.

"What the…?" he said as a shadow darted out in front of them. He grabbed the back of Kagome's shirt as she stumbled a little.

Kagome pin-wheeled her arms through the air, trying not to lose her balance. She was thankful for Inuyasha's firm grasp on the back of her shirt. That was, until she heard him say, "What's this?"

Kagome gasped as her bra strap snapped against her back.

"Ouch, you moron. What do you think you're doing?" She stepped onto the landing then turned around to face him. She just knew her cheeks were flushed.

"Nothing," Inuyasha growled. "I just wanted to know what that was."

"My bra," now it was Kagome's turn to growl. "And that hurt."

Inuyasha peered at her. Her face was turning a rather interesting shade of red. "Oh," he said. "Kagome," he called as she began to descend the stairs again, "What's a bra?"

Kagome slapped the heel of her hand against her forehead. "Ask Miroku," she muttered, "Honestly, didn't you have TV? Now hurry up."

"TV? Oh, wait a minute, now I remember! It's one of those things…" Inuyasha stopped, "Kagome? Kagome? Where'd you go?" He looked up just in time to see the ends of Kagome's long dark hair whisk out of sight around a corner. "Damn," he said to himself, "She's pretty fast." He followed her at a more sedate pace.

Shippo looked up as the girl he had met earlier burst into the kitchen. "Hello!" he cried, leaping up to go to her. "Kagome," he stopped a few feet a way from her, "Why are you so red?"

Inuyasha stepped into the kitchen. Great, there was that brat from earlier. He scowled at the small boy.

Kaede was standing in the corner. Turning, she smiled at her two newest guests. "I hope the two of you slept well," she said.

Inuyasha hoped it was his imagination, but he could have sworn the old woman's right eyelid descended just a little. Was that a wink? Oh god.

"Hey, what is this place?" he asked instead. "I keep hearing noises."

Kagome settled at the table, and looked up as well, curiosity plainly written across her face.

"Oh," smiled Kaede, "I suppose you could say I've picked up a few strays who needed a home."

Inuyasha scowled at her. He hoped that wasn't a bad dog joke, because it sure wasn't an answer, but before he could say anything, Kaede was inquiring about their plans for the day.

"Well," Kagome said, with a sidelong glance at the boy scowling in the doorway, "I think we're going to go to the mall and outfit Inuyasha here. Then we need to meet up with my friend and call my mother. Then we need to get in touch with Miroku and Sango and do some planning."

"Sounds good," Kaede replied. "I'll get you a bus schedule."

"Thank you," called Kagome.

"What about food?" asked Inuyasha.

The old woman chuckled. "Help yourself to the contents of the kitchen." Despite his demanding manner, she had a feeling he was going to be fun.

OOOOOOOOOOOO

An hour later, the two teenagers were almost ready to leave the house. "Just one last thing," Kagome said, grabbing hold of Inuyasha. "We need to do something about your ears."

"My ears?" he said, automatically reaching his hands up to cover them. "What's wrong with my ears?"

Kagome stared at him. "Come on, you know that they're going to cause comment."

"Okay, okay."

"Good, now just hold still."

"What're you going to do?" He looked down at her.

"Stop being such a baby," Kagome scolded. She pulled out a black hat that she had brought with them and set it on the reluctant boy's head. "Now, maybe we should do something about this hair," she murmured, standing on tiptoe to try and tuck his long silver hair up into the hat.

Inuyasha stood absolutely still, as her breath brushed over his neck. She was standing awfully…close. He jumped when she put a hand on his shoulder to steady herself.

"There," she leaned back and smiled up at the teenager. Something in his expression looked different. His eyes were peering down at her intently, the stillness of his face making him look almost…vulnerable? Belatedly, she realized that she still had a hand on his shoulder. His nice, muscular shoulder. She snatched it away. As she did so, Inuyasha's expression changed again, returned to his normal mixture of arrogance and impatience.

"Keh," he said, "Whatever. Are you ready to go yet?"

Mutely, Kagome nodded and followed him out the door. What was that?

OOOOOOOOOOOOOO

"Are we almost there yet?" Inuyasha asked for what felt like the five hundredth time.

Kagome shot him an annoyed glance, "We're getting off at the next stop."

"About bloody time," Inuyasha muttered, "Drag me all over a million stupid stores and now we have to meet this friend of yours? Why couldn't you just have called her from Kaede's?"

"I already told you, Eri is my cover for being here. I need to talk to her in person and use her phone. And I couldn't call my mom from Kaede's, her caller id would tell her I was calling from the wrong number."

As Kagome finished her explanation, the bus doors slid open.

"Come on," she called over her shoulder, "We're meeting her at this great little café. It's only like a block or two away."

Sighing, Inuyasha followed. A hand strayed up to toy with his hat, as he moved faster to catch up to Kagome. Not that he would ever admit it, but the idea of meeting an unknown human was somewhat unnerving.

"Oh, and there's something I should tell you," Kagome said as they climbed up the stairs.

"Yeah?" said Inuyasha, curious. Her face appeared to be turning just the slightest bit pink.

"She…ummm…see I couldn't tell her the real reason why I needed her to cover for me, so I kind of told her…ummm…" Her face was definitely red now; she could feel her cheeks burning.

"Told her what?"

"Thatwe'reacouple."

"That we're _what_?" Inuyasha's voice rose a little.

"A couple," said Kagome. "I hope you don't mind, it was just the only explanation I could think of on such a short notice. And I knew she wouldn't question it."

Inuyasha stared at her. A couple, huh? Suddenly a small smirk touched his lips, "I always knew you wanted me."

Kagome stopped in her tracks and looked up. Yep, he was doing it again. "Why you arrogant little…" Her voice trailed off as one of Inuyasha's arms settled around her waist.

"What're you doing?" she squeaked.

"Just getting into character," Inuyasha replied. "Now come along…honey."

Kagome groaned. Why? Why? Although, a small voice in the back of her mind noted, the feel of his arm around her waist was very warm and somehow reassuring. But she ignored it in favor of hitting him. "Don't be an ass," she said. "And make sure not to drop those packages."

Inuyasha paused a moment to settle the bags he was holding. A couple, huh? From the way Kagome had acted, it seemed like it was a pretty loaded term. Maybe he would have that talk with Miroku after all. After all, soap operas and romance novels were no substitute for experience, and Miroku acted like he had lots of that. That decided, he hurried to catch up with the rapidly disappearing Kagome.

"You're bright red," he observed, just to watch her get a little more red.

That's it, Kagome thought, she was just going to have to kill him. Her thoughts trailed off as they came in sight of a little café. A high school girl was sitting at one of the outside tables.

"Eri!" called Kagome, abruptly speeding up. Inuyasha hung back a little as the two girls went into a frenzy of greeting and hugging.

"Oh," said Kagome, finally remembering him, "This is Inuyasha. Inuyasha this is Eri."

"Hi," said Inuyasha. The girl was _staring_ at him.

"Hot," said Eri. Kagome rolled her eyes. "So, you're the one, huh?" The strange girl circled him.

"Just ignore her," Kagome told him, feeling quite gleeful about the panicky expression that the dogboy was currently wearing.

"Yeah right."

"Eri," said Kagome, "Can I borrow your phone? I need to call my mom now."

"Oh sure," said Eri, "Inuyasha and I will just sit here and get to know each other." Her smile was almost predatory.

"Kagome…?" said Inuyasha.

"Great!" said Kagome, "You two just sit here, I'll be back in a minute." Taking Eri's phone she wandered a few feet away. "Mom?" Inuyasha heard her say, "It's me."

Reluctantly he turned his head towards the girl now facing him. "Well now," she said, "I have a few questions…"

That was it, Inuyasha decided. Kagome had the scariest friends ever. Five minutes of attempting to fend off Eri's questions had given him a new appreciation for the stubbornness of the female sex. Also he was beginning to wish that he and Kagome had discussed their back-story before she had abandoned him with her nosy friend.

"How did we meet? …Umm, well…" Inuyasha rubbed the back of his neck.

"Hey guys, I'm done!"

Inuyasha sighed in relief at the sound of Kagome's approaching voice.

"Kagome," said Eri, "You're boyfriend is totally uncommunicative. I could barely get two words out of him. He wouldn't even tell me how the two of you met." Eri pouted.

"Oh!" Kagome could have hit herself for her stupidity. She had forgotten that Eri was going to want all the details. She glanced at Inuyasha; she hoped that he had not had too much trouble with Eri, although judging by the scowl on his face he certainly hadn't enjoyed himself. She sighed.

"Well, since we're here, let's just grab something to eat, then Inuyasha and I have to go."

The two sitting in front of her nodded.

"So, how was your mom?" asked Eri. The talk became more general, and Inuyasha relaxed, fully prepared to allow Kagome to take care of the conversation. He'd done his part, dammit.

OOOOOOOOOOOOOO

Things at headquarters were not going well for Kouga. He was working on a weekend, he had been up all night, and he had definitely missed his cartoons. And now he was being called back into the office of his supervisor. Kouga groaned. Damned subtlety. See if he ever tried that again. From now on, his policy was going to be shoot first, cover up later.

When he wandered into the room, he was surprised to Sango and Miroku already sitting there.

"Hey guys," he said sullenly.

Sango gave him a sympathetic smile, "You look tired."

"Yeah."

"Hey, I'm tired too," Miroku said.

Sango rolled her eyes. "Poor baby."

"If the pleasantries are over," Naraku's voice drifted across his desk. No one said anything. "Very well, I've called you all together because, Miroku, Sango, as the last ones to watch over Inuyasha, you know him best. I would like the two of you to help Kouga with his investigation. And don't think that I won't be looking into the…negligence…that allowed him to escape."

Miroku gulped. Shit. He saw Sango stiffen up.

"Of course, sir."

"Good." Naraku placed the tips of his fingers together. "Now, Kouga, you are in charge here. Try not to be too foolish. He has no money and very limited knowledge of the outside world. If we don't find him within the next twenty-four hours, we're going to have to look into the possibility that some outside person is helping him. Look into possible connections he might have. Ask his doctors and nurses." He paused, "Oh, and try and come up with something on your own, too. I don't want to spoon feed you this entire investigation. I have other…things…I have to take care of." Naraku's hand reached up to straighten his tie.

"Any questions?" he looked around. "No? No? Okay, good. I'll meet with you again tomorrow."

Silently the trio filed out the door. At the threshold, Sango glanced up into Miroku's eyes.

In response, he put an arm around her waist. "See you later Kouga," he called. "Sango and I have things to do." Miroku winked at the younger man.

"You know," Sango grumbled, "I'm pretty sure you could have gotten us out of there without damaging my reputation."

"Maybe," said Miroku, "But this way is so much more fun." He tightened his hold on her.

Sango elbowed him in the ribs and walked over to his car. "Come on," she called. "We've got places to go!"

OOOOOOOOOOOO

"Bye Eri, see you soon!" called Kagome, waving to her friend.

"Bye," said Inuyasha.

"See you guys later," said Eri. "Oh, and one more thing, Inuyasha." She beckoned him closer. "If you hurt her in any way, I will personally hunt you down and rip out your guts." She smiled.

Inuyasha backed up from her hurriedly. Scary.

"I hope you know what you're doing, Kags," said Eri

"Don't worry, we'll be fine," replied Kagome.

"Okay. I trust your judgement. And if your mom calls, I'll let you know as soon as possible."

"Don't call me, I'll call you," Kagome joked. With that, she touched Inuyasha on the arm and walked off. As they left, Inuyasha threw one last glance over his shoulder at Eri. The girl was still standing there, watching them walk off. He shook his head. Somehow, she made him nervous.

As Eri watched them go, she frowned. There was definitely something wrong with that pair. She wasn't sure what it was yet, but there was something Kagome wasn't telling her, she was sure of it.


	13. Towels and Talking

A/N: I know, guys. Try not to all have heart attacks, but I have updated again! I think this is even within a week of my last update? I wanted to be extra-speedy in thanks for all your wonderful reviews. Over 100! Wow! You are awesome. Also, I worked out some more of the plot for the story, so I have a bit more of an idea about where this is going. I've known the ending for a while now, but now I am starting to see how I am going to get there. I'm also thinking about changing my summary a little bit. And maybe the genre? But I'm not sure what genre this would be, if not general…

Disclaimer: Don't own it, and am starting to suspect that I never will. Sad.

Chapter 13: Towels and Talks

"Kagome!! Kagome, Kagome, Kagome, Kagome," a small bundle of energy shot into Kagome and Inuyasha's room early Monday morning. Without a pause, the streak aimed itself towards the bed.

"Wheeeeeeeeee," it shouted as it leapt into the air.

"What the fuck?" A clawed hand shot out from under the covers. "What the hell do you think you're doing?" The hand batted at the small boy, who went flying across the room.

"Kagome," Shippo gasped, "What happened to you?"

"It's me, dumbass," Inuyasha threw off the rest of the covers and sat up in bed.

Shippo gaped, speechless.

Across the room, another figure stirred. "Inuyasha?" a sleepy voice asked. "What's going on?"

"Kagome?" Shippo turned around to see another figure lying on the sofa. "Why are you over there?"

"Shippo?" said Kagome. "What are you doing here?"

"I came to see you," he announced. Picking himself off the floor he hurtled towards the sofa, "Kagome!"

He jumped into the bed. Kagome opened the covers so he could lie next to her. Across the room Inuyasha snorted.

"You're letting that runt in?"

"Of course," said Kagome. "Is that a problem?"

"Keh. As if I care." Inuyasha swung his feet to the floor.

"Oi, I'm getting up now." He crossed the room, and pulled the cover off Kagome and Shippo.

"That's _fine,_ Inuyasha, now give me the covers back," Kagome opened an eye to glare up at the boy standing right above her.

"No," he said. "Get up."

"Don't order me around!" she shot back, opening the other eye.

"Brrrr," said Shippo, burrowing closer.

"If you're so cold," said Inuyasha, picking up the small child and bundling him in the cover, "Why don't you go lie on the bed?" Without a word, he plopped the little redhead down in the center of the recently vacated bed.

Really, his mind insisted, it was time for Kagome to get up. His actions had nothing to do with the way that little runt was snuggled up close to her. After all, the brat was all of about five, not what you would call a threat. Not that Inuyasha saw any other boys as a threat, mind you. He certainly could care less what Kagome did in her free time. He snorted.

He turned around, "Are you up y…" His voice trailed off. What the hell? The sofa was empty.

"She went into the bathroom while you were moving me," Shippo's voice was clearly amused. He giggled and snuggled further into the covers.

"That sneaky little wench," said Inuyasha, glaring at the closed bathroom door. Steal his shower, would she? Well, she would pay later. He went to sit on the couch as he waited for Kagome to finish up her shower.

Inside the bathroom Kagome cursed silently. Dammit. She had forgotten her clothes. Again. This was getting to be embarrassing. Maybe if she asked nicely, Inuyasha would hand her the duffel bag with all her clothes in it.

All right, she curled a fist, brace yourself. She opened the door and peeked out into the room.

"Inuyasha?"

"Huh?" He looked up as Kagome's face peeked around the bathroom door.

"Umm, could you hand me my duffel bag? I forgot my clothes."

"Keh, what do you think I am? Get it yourself." Really, he told himself, he didn't have any ulterior motives. He just was making sure not to let her boss him around.

Kagome flushed. Well, she hadn't really expected him to get it for her anyways. And it wasn't as if he hadn't seen her in her towel yesterday. She peeked over at the dog-boy. His eyes appeared to be closed.

Inuyasha watched her from under his lashes. He didn't miss the sidelong look she gave him. It was a shame, he thought, that Kaede's towels were so big and fluffy…

Just then a knock sounded on the door. "Shippo?" a male voice called. "Are you in there?"

Without another word, the door to the room swept open. Kagome let out a little squeal and then clapped a hand over her mouth. That noise had _not _just come out of her mouth. She stood as if frozen, one hand clutching her towel, the other holding her duffel bag.

Before anyone could move, Inuyasha was standing between Kagome and the door.

"Doesn't anyone _wait_ for an answer when they knock in this house?" he asked.

"Oh, um, uh, sorry," the boy stuttered. He looked like he was about Kagome's age, with short brown hair. His face was slightly pink. "I didn't mean to interrupt. I was just looking for Shippo."

"Interrupt," Inuyasha's voice sounded strangled.

At the same moment, Kagome pushed around him. "Hojo?!" she said incredulously, "Is that you?"

Hojo peered at the girl standing in front of him, wrapped only in a towel. If he weren't so polite, he would have been wishing that Kaede's towels were a little less big and fluffy. Then a shocked expression crossed his face. "Kagome!?" he said. "Is that really you?"

"Okay, what's going on here?" Inuyasha interposed his body between the two of them again. "You know him, Kagome?"

"Yeah, I knew Hojo in middle school." She turned back to Hojo, "What are you doing here?" she asked.

"Kaede took me in after…well, it's a long story," Hojo answered. "How about you...two?" His gaze moved uncertainly to Inuyasha's face. For some reason, he didn't seem fazed by the sight of Inuyasha's dog ears.

"We'll talk about it later," Kagome said, "It's also a long story." She pushed Inuyasha a little to try and get him to stop blocking her view of Hojo. "Anyhow, I have to get dressed, but we should talk later, okay?"

"Right," said Hojo, his gaze, despite all of his well-bred willpower, dropping to rest on the area where the upper edge of the towel met Kagome's skin.

Inuyasha, noting the direction of his gaze, shifted his weight forward just a little. Hojo's eyes immediately snapped up to Inuyasha's face and he stepped back a little.

"Ok, umm, Kagome, I guess I'll see you downstairs, right?"

"Sure thing," Kagome smiled brightly. Hojo backed out the door.

"Well, that was interesting," Kagome said as she walked back into the bathroom.

"Keh," said Inuyasha to the bathroom door.

OOOOOOOOOOO

By the time Inuyasha emerged from his own shower, Kagome and Shippo were gone. With a softly muttered curse, he grabbed his hat and headed down the stairs. As he neared the kitchen, he could hear Kagome's laughter.

"Boyfriend?" she said, "Oh no, Hojo. Inuyasha and I are strictly friends and that's all."

Inuyasha stopped at the threshold of the kitchen.

"Then why are you guys staying in the same room?" Hojo's slightly simple voice asked.

"Because that's what Kaede gave us."

"Oh. Well, I still don't think he likes me very much."

"Don't be silly," Kagome laughed again. "Inuyasha just takes a little getting used to. I'm sure the two of you will get along great."

Inuyasha stepped into the kitchen, intentionally making his footsteps louder than normal.

"Speak of the devil," Kagome turned around in her chair and smiled at him. "Good morning!"

"Keh," said Inuyasha. Crossing, he took the chair between Kagome and Hojo. "What're we doing today?"

"Well," said Kagome with a glance at Hojo, "I think we are just going to do some sightseeing…"She stepped down on his toe as she said the last word. Inuyasha looked at her.

"Oh," he said, "Sightseeing…"

"Right," she said. "In fact, we should probably get going now. See you later, Hojo!"

"Bye," he said, his eyes following her as she left the room. He didn't notice the way Inuyasha's yellow eyes turned back to look at him as they crossed the threshold.

Shippo did, though. From the corner he said, "This is going to be fun."

OOOOOOOOOOOOOO

At the bus stop, Kagome turned to Inuyasha. "Do you think you could try to be a little more subtle please?" she said.

"What?" Panicked, his mind raced over the morning. He hadn't thrown Shippo down the stairs, he hadn't torn out that Hojo-person's eyes, and he hadn't picked Kagome up and shoved her into the bathroom to get her "middle school friend" to stop ogling her. On the whole, he felt that his behavior had been highly exemplary.

"I nearly had a heart attack when I saw Hojo there. I had to do some massive quick-thinking to come up with a good reason for us to be there." She scowled up at him. "You could at least not have asked me what we were supposed to do today in front of him."

"Oh yeah," Inuyasha looked down at her. "So what _are_ we doing today, anyways?"

Kagome groaned. "We're going to see Miroku and Sango."

"Oh," Inuyasha's eyes still looked puzzled.

Taking pity on him, Kagome added, "I talked with them yesterday after we met Eri, remember? We're meeting them in the park."

They rode the rest of the way in silence.

OOOOOOOOOOOOOO

"We _really_ shouldn't be here," Miroku said in an undertone to Sango.

"I know," she replied, "But we can't just leave them alone."

"Couldn't you have gone over all this on the phone?"

"No. We need to see them."

"We should have waited at least another day."

"I know," said Sango again, "But…I just didn't want to desert them. Especially after guilting Kagome into this."

Miroku sighed. "Oh well," he brightened up. "It's not like Kouga's the brightest guy in the world."

"Which reminds me," Sango glared up at him. A sharp smacking noise resounded through the area.

"Ouch!" Miroku brought a hand up to his stinging cheek. "What was that for?"

"Do you think you could, just once, get us out of a situation _without_ implying that we are sleeping together?" Sango demanded.

Miroku grinned. Just then another voice was heard from a distance.

"I heard a slap, they must be over there."

"Ah, they're here," he answered. "Anyways," he added as an afterthought, "You are my partner. It's basically a foregone conclusion that we're…intimate. I am pretty charming after all."

As Kagome and Inuyasha walked into the clearing, they nearly tripped over a prone Miroku.

"Sango," Kagome gasped, reaching out to restrain the older girl.

"Oh, hi guys!" Sango said. Inuyasha just rolled his eyes. He had given up trying to understand the older pair's relationship. "Miroku, stop laying around and get up," Sango demanded.

Miroku groaned, but pulled himself to his feet. "Hey guys," he said. "Inuyasha. Kagome," he locked eyes with the younger girl, "Still as beautiful as ever."

Kagome flushed a little under the man's intense gaze, then caught herself. Sango sighed. The four settled down under one of the trees, and quickly got to planning.

Sango and Miroku explained how they were a part of the team to catch Inuyasha. As of yet, they reassured the teenagers, Kagome's name had not been brought up at all. Headquarters wasn't even sure if Inuyasha was being helped or not.

"Although," said Miroku, "If they continue to be unable to find you, they will have to assume that you have help."

"And we'll have to be really careful about contacting you guys," Sango added. "You probably won't see much of us. But I'm going to leave you my cell phone on loan, and you have Miroku's number, so feel free to call us whenever you need anything."

"I hope Kaede's place is working out for you," Miroku said. He grinned at the hint of a blush that emerged on both teenagers' faces. He was definitely going to have to keep tabs with Kaede to see how the "only available" room was working out.

"Oh, and that brings us to money," Sango said. Kagome winced. Money was definitely an issue. Right now all they had was some borrowed cash, and a small amount of her own measly savings. And she had no idea what Inuyasha was going to do when she left him.

At the thought, her stomach gave an unpleasant twist. For a moment there, she had forgotten that she would be leaving Inuyasha in a little less than two weeks. Beating down any emotions that the thought raised, Kagome tuned back into the conversation.

"A job?" Inuyasha was saying.

"Yep," the agents chorused. Kagome laughed as the two attempted to explain economics and the job market to the clueless teenager. Then she frowned. Oh god, find Inuyasha a job.

"Are they looking for him here yet?" she asked abruptly, interrupting Miroku's enthusiastic description of the benefits of working at a restaurant.

"Just make sure you check out the waitress's outfits before you apply there," he was saying, "You don't want to get stuck in one of those where they make the girls wear really conserva…What was that?" He looked over at Kagome.

"Are they looking in the city yet?" she repeated.

"No, not yet," Sango said.

"But it's really only a matter of time," added Miroku. The group fell silent.

"Oh," said Sango, breaking the silence, "Kagome, I almost forgot. I brought you a couple of things. Want to come to the car with me?"

"Sure," said Kagome.

"This is actually a good way for us to end," said Miroku. "We can all leave separately."

"Ok," said Kagome. "Inuyasha, meet me at the bus stop." The dog-boy nodded. "Alright Sango, I'm ready." Inuyasha and Miroku watched the two women walk away.

Miroku gave a sigh of appreciation. "Ah," he said, his eyes firmly trained on the retreating figures.

"Oh, that reminds me," said Inuyasha.

"Yeah?"

"I had a couple things I wanted to ask you…" he trailed off, fidgeting a little.

"Go right ahead," said Miroku.

OOOOOOOOOOOOOO

At the bus stop Kagome looked up at Inuyasha. "Did you feel that there was anything strange about that meeting?" She asked.

"Hmm?" he said, his mind preoccupied with the little "talk" he'd had with Miroku.

"I mean," she continued, oblivious, "Why did they need to come all the way out here? And take the risk of being seen like that? We could have had that entire conversation over the phone."

Not quite, Inuyasha thought. He definitely would have missed Miroku's _very_ expressive hand gestures if they'd only communicated by phone. A smile touched the corners of his mouth.


	14. Who Says They Can't Wear Hats?

A/N: Hello everyone! Here's the next chapter. Sorry, it is a little bit shorter than the previous ones, but schoolwork, you know? Anyhow, thanks for your reviews, and thanks to everyone who has been reading! Oh, and many of you were curious about the…content…of the discussion between Miroku and Inuyasha.Perhaps I should just leave that up to your imaginations...? Although I am thinking of doing a little side story, one-shot of it, if people are really interested. We'll see.

Oh, and I don't usually do shout outs, but I just had to ask--Minti Mist, what on earth is a "lice gossip" chain???

Disclaimer: Don't own Inuyasha, don't own Kagome, don't own Shippo, don't own…umm, actually don't own any of the characters in this story.

Chapter 14: Who Says They Can't Wear Hats?

Kagome sighed and sat up on the bed. "Inuyasha," she called, "We have a problem."

"What?" The boy put down the newspaper he had been leafing through and went through a quick mental review. Okay, they'd gotten home, managed to avoid Hojo at dinner, gone upstairs, he'd kicked Shippo out of the room, and they had each been preoccupied with their own activities until now. As far as he knew, there was no problem. "What kind of problem?" he asked.

"Well," Kagome turned over onto her stomach and dropped her face into her hands so that she could face the other teenager directly. "It's about what Sango and Miroku were saying earlier today…"

Inuyasha's mind went still. He hoped she and Sango hadn't overheard the conversation between him and Miroku. Or seen it, come to think of it. When Miroku was interested in his subject matter, his hand motions became very…eloquent.

Kagome frowned. For some reason, Inuyasha seemed to be trying to hide his left hand.

"Ummm," Inuyasha continued, "What part of the conversation?"

"The job part," Kagome replied.

"Oh." A wave of relief washed over him. That was okay then.

"You do realize, don't you," said the girl, "The difficulties we are going to encounter if we want to find you a job?" She paused, thoughtfully. "But they were right. You need to be able to support yourself."

Inuyasha rustled his newspaper. "What do you think I'm doing over here?"

"Yeah, but…there are so many requirements. We need to find a job where you don't have to have work experience andyou can wear a hat. And allat a place that won't be too conspicuous. You do realize that if you work, you will have to go out in public. Which is where they're looking for you."

"I know," Inuyasha growled.

"Okay," said Kagome. "As long as you realize that getting a job will make it harder for you to stay undercover. So, let's see. Jobs where you can wear a hat." She bit her lip. "Umm, how about chef?"

"What's that?" Inuyasha asked.

"Someone who cooks in a restaurant. They wear tall white hats. Can you cook?"

"I don't know, I've never tried," Inuyasha looked thoughtful for a moment. "They wouldn't let me near fire or sharp, pointy objects when I was at the lab."

Kagome stared at him. Well, she had figured chef would be a long shot.

"Okay, well, there are other options." She chewed on some hair for a moment. As she lay thinking, the door to the room flew open. Inuyasha shot up from his place on the floor. At least there is nothing wrong with his reaction time, Kagome thought. Maybe that could come in useful somehow. There would be plenty of jobs that wanted someone fast, right?

And of course, most jobs wanted people with dog ears. Right, Kagome, she told herself.

"Kago…." Shippo choked as he was abruptly lifted off the floor. Kagome looked up at the little boy dangling from between Inuyasha's hands.

"Honestly, Inuyasha," said Kagome, hopping off the bed. She paused a moment to let the head rush from her sudden change in altitude settle.

"Have you _never_ heard of knocking?" Asked Inuyasha, giving the boy a slight shake. Shaking her head Kagome crossed over to the two. With a slight effort, she plucked the small boy from Inuyasha's grasp.

"Really," she scolded, "You have to be gentle, Inuyasha, he's just a little boy."

"No," said Inuyasha, "Little maybe. Boy, I'm not so sure."

"What?" Kagome turned big eyes to her roommate.

"He doesn't smell fully human," Inuyasha growled.

"Not…human?" Kagome looked down at the small kid in her arms. "And you didn't mention this earlier?"

"I've been distracted," said Inuyasha defensively.

"Yeah, but…oh nevermind," Kagome let her voice trail off as she looked down at Shippo. He looked entirely human. That was, she frowned and peered closer at his hands. His nails seemed a little bit on the sharp side, but…

Shippo peered up, green eyes large.

"Oh," said Kagome softly, a memory flashing through her mind, "I had wondered about that."

"About what?" asked Inuyasha.

"When he first saw you, you weren't wearing a hat or anything. It didn't seem to startle him. Do you think, maybe, he is another one?" Her voice was hesitant.

Another one. Inuyasha didn't need her to be any more explicit. Another one like him. Another one who had been modified. Inuyasha swallowed. There were more out there? Others who had not been killed at the time of the rebellion? "Where'd you come from, kid?" he asked, his voice rough.

Shippo stared back, turning from him to Kagome and back again. "The labs," he said, his voice entirely too devoid of emotion for a child of his age. Kagome's arms tightened around him.

"What happened," Inuyasha asked, his voice fast, urgent. "Were you the only one? Are there others?" Maybe, just maybe, he was not as alone as he had always thought he was.

"I don't remember," Shippo wailed.

"Shhh, it's okay," Kagome comforted the boy in her arms. "Inuyasha," she spoke softly, "If this is all related to the event you told me about earlier, than there's no way he would know anything. He couldn't possibly remember it; after all, he must have been very, very young at the time."

Inuyasha nodded. Yes, Shippo probably didn't remember any of the events of the rebellion or its aftermath; he might not have even been born when they occurred. But, his eyes lit up as another thought struck him. Shippo was staying with Kaede.Kaede was old. Kaede wouldknow. She knewMiroku after all. He turned away from the runt in Kagome's arms and headed towards the exit.

"Where're you going?" asked Kagome.

"Talk to Kaede," Inuyasha answered, pushing out the door.

"She's sleeping already," Shippo told Kagome as the door swung closed.

"In that case, I guess he'll be back in a couple minutes then," smiled Kagome. Shippo smiled back.

Outside the hallway Inuyasha immediately headed for the stairs, the implications of Shippo's revelation banging around his head. Maybe Kaede could clear it up for him, maybe shewould know what had happened to the rest of them. And she must be sympathetic since one of the kids she waskeeping turned out to be one of _them_. He leapt down the stairs andwas soonskidding into the kitchen. It was empty.

With a shrug, Inuyasha wandered into the living room. They hadn't been in the house for that long, and he still didn't know the layout very well, but he knew there was at least a sitting room somewhere nearby, and a few other rooms. He would check them until he found the old woman.

OOOOOOOOOOOOOO

Shit, Inuyasha cursed under his breath as he headed back to his room on the third floor. Not only had Kaede not been anywhere to be found, but he had also run into Hojo, that inimitable twit. The shorter boy had been sitting in one of the rooms, reading. Inuyasha had had to duck out quickly in order to avoid conversation with the other boy, buthe had the uncomfortable feeling that Hojo had seen him.

As he neared the room he shared with Kagome, Inuyasha heard giggling. Oh great, he thought, so Shippo is still there.

"Pizza delivery boy!" came the young boy's high-pitched voice.

"I don't think Inuyasha knows how to drive a car," Kagome answered. Shippo laughed. "Not to mention that we don't have a car."

"I guess so," said Shippo. "Well, what about construction worker?"

An image of Inuyasha in a wifebeater and hardhat and holding a jackhammerwhile whistling at passing womenflitted through Kagome's mind. She giggled.

Inuyasha walked in just long enough to see an odd expressioncross Kagome's face.

"You know, Shippo," Kagome said, "I could almost see that. He definitely has the vocabulary for it." She turned at the sound of the door. "Oh, Inuyasha, you're back now. Did you find Kaede?"

"No," he answered. What were the two of them doing?

"Shippo was just helping me to think of some jobs that allow you to wear a hat." Kagome explained, almost as if she could read his mind.

"How about fireman?" Shippo exclaimed suddenly.

"I don't think they get to wear their hats all the time," Kagome said, while a mental picture of Inuyasha dressed in overalls and a fire helmet danced through her mind. She grinned.

Inuyasha glanced at her. Why was there a faint blush on her cheeks?

"Hmm," said Shippo, "This is harder than I thought it would be."

Inuyasha sat down on the floor and looked up at the two seated on the bed. "What about security guard," he asked gruffly.

Kagome peered down at him, surprised. "I suppose that's a thought," she said. It was a job that he probably had the skills for, given his speed and enhanced senses.

"But they don't wear hats," protested Shippo.

"Says who?" demanded Inuyasha.

Shippo turned up his nose. "They don't. I've never seen a security guard with a hat, except at…hey, wait a minute, Kagome."

"Yes?" said the girl, transferring a piece of hair out of her mouth and looking down at Shippo.

"I have the _perfect _job for him!" Shippo grinned.

OOOOOOOOOOOOO

Kouga looked up from his desk. Damn early mornings. He had wanted to hold the meeting with Sango and Miroku the night before, but the two had claimed that they were following a lead and couldn't make it back to the office in time.

This of course meant that he had to be in the office bright and early the next morning. Kouga was not a morning person, and he was feeling more than a little annoyed. Plus, the more they delayed in catching the dog boy, the harder it was going to be to find him, and Naraku was getting a little…anxious. Kouga hated having his supervisor paying such close attention to how he handled a mission.

"Well," he asked, his blue eyes piercing, or at least blearing, "Did you find anything?"

"Sorry, it was a dead end," Sango shook her head.

Kouga sighed. He hadn't really expected that the dog boy would manage to hide from them for this long. "I see," he looked down at the pen he was holding in his hand, "Very well. At this point, I suppose that we must assume that he is being helped by someone."

Miroku nodded, "There doesn't seem to be any other explanation. Inuyasha is not very well-versed in the ways of the world."

Sango thought she saw the tiniest of smiles flicker across his face as he said that. Also, Miroku's left hand had suddenly twitched. She wondered what the two of them had talked about after she and Kagome left that had amused him so much?

"Anyways," Kouga continued, "I think that we can all agree that somehow he has managed to get out of this area."

"Wait," said Sango, "How do you figure? He could still be in the area and just keeping his head down."

"Maybe," Kouga frowned, "But I don't think so. I mean, I think that he would go towards a larger area. Easier to hide, more anonymity."

"Yeah, but he doesn't know about the geography or anything around here, and he doesn't know about people" Miroku protested.

"Which would be a fine reason for him to stick around, except," Kouga scowled, "That he must be getting outside help. So I think he will have gone to the city. It is the only sensible place for him to go."

"I guess," said Sango, but she didn't look happy.

"All right," said Kouga, "Then I am going to make arrangements for us to stay in the city. It's too far for us to commute every day."

Sango and Miroku nodded.

"You may go."

Miroku turned to Sango as they left the office. "Damn," he said, "I was expecting at least a little more time before this."

"I know," said Sango. "Maybe he's gotten smarter?"

"I don't know," Miroku stroked his chin, "I think maybe he is getting pressure from up top."

"Dammit," said Sango as they headed down the hall.

OOOOOOOOOOOOO

The sun reflecting off gleaming marble was giving Inuyasha a headache.His eyes were tired from lack of sleep, and he was reflecting, not with the kindest feelings, on the people responsible for his current situationn. Stupid Shippo, and his damned job ideas. Stupid Kagome for thinking they were brilliant. And stupid him, for staying up and arguing with the two of them instead of getting some much-needed sleep.

Inuyasha tilted his head up to look at the building in front of him. "Kagome," he growled, "I am not sure that this is such a good idea."

"Don't be silly," said Kagome, "I think it's a great idea. Besides, you're sure to get this job, Shippo said so."

"Right. That's reassuring."

Wordlessly, Kagome put a hand on his arm and led him up the steps.

"Smile," she said as they walked through a set of revolving doors.


	15. Suitcases, Suitcases

A/N: Well, I'm back, plot notes in hand. I hope you enjoy this chapter!

Disclaimer: Don't own what? Oh, right.

Chapter 15: Suitcases, Suitcases

Well, Inuyasha thought as he lay staring at the ceiling above the bed later that night, at least he had gotten the job. It wasn't that he was nervous, he assured himself, so much as that he was surprised. After all Kagome'd said, and Sango and Miroku too, he'd basically assumed that the process would've been a bit more, well, challenging.

At the thought of Kagome, he lifted his head a little, trying to see her slight figure where it lay on the sofa. He was unsuccessful of course, dogs are not known for their night vision any more than humans are. Laying his head back on the pillow, Inuyasha resumed his thoughts

He'd walked into the building with no job experience, no references although Kagome had offered to give him one until she'd remembered that her reference number was the same as his contact number and no obvious qualifications (except maybe his physical strength; Inuyasha grinned and flexed a bicep in the dark), and he'd been _hired_. Not that he would ever admit it, of course, but he was slightly disappointed with how easy the entire procedure had been. It was a bit of an anticlimax.

Damn, he thought, as he finally drifted off to sleep, the Bellevue Hotel must be getting desperate these days.

OOOOOOOOOOOOOOO

Nine o'clock the next morning found Kouga pacing in his office, his track zigzagging between three bulging blue suitcases. They were more than an hour late. He checked his watch for the third time in the past two minutes.

"Dammit you guys," he muttered grumpily.

"What's that you say?" inquired a chipper male voice from just outside his door.

Looking up, Kouga saw Sango and Miroku standing in his doorway, both holding suitcases.

"About ti " he started to say when he was interrupted by the shrill ringing of the black telephone that sat on the corner of his desk. With a sigh, he reached over and picked up the receiver. "Kouga here," he said into the instrument.

"You shouldn't be," growled the well known male voice on the other end. Kouga automatically straightened as he recognized he not so dulcet tones of his supervisor. One hand crept up to his throat in a vain attempt to neaten his already impeccably tied tie.

Sango turned to Miroku, "Well, I guess this is going to take a little longer." In perfect unison, the two agents sat down on their suitcases and prepared to eavesdrop shamelessly. Unfortunately for them, all that they heard in the next five minutes was a series of "yes sirs" and "no sirs" and the occasional "I'll get right on it."

When Kouga finally hung up the phone, he found his team competing fiercely in a thumb war. "Sorry to interrupt," he said, jerking his own thumb towards the door, "But do you think we could leave? Finally?"

Sango smiled at his attempt at sarcasm, Kouga was not known around the office for his wit. Without changing her expression, she took advantage of Miroku's distraction to snag his thumb and count to four, then hopped off her black suitcase. "I'm ready."

Miroku struggled to his feet. "Yep. Life in the city, here we come." A faraway look crossed his face, causing the young woman next to him a fleeting moment of worry. She hoped he wasn't going to get any ideas that would be detrimental to himself. Or the city.

Behind them, Kouga groaned as he tried to figure out how to carry all his luggage without dropping anything.

OOOOOOOOOOOOOOO

Inuyasha's first day with a job was much like anyone's first day, except that he had to do it while wearing a small, round, red hat with a chinstrap. He scratched idly at the latter--the bloody thing _itched. _

"All the bell hops complain about them," said the receptionist at the desk with a gesture at the hat. The short plump man smiled at the hotel's newest employee.

"That's because they're fu ummm, slightly uncomfortable," Inuyasha replied, barely stopping himself. Kagome had pounded the need for politeness into him that morning as he was getting ready to leave. "And absolutely no swearing!" she had said, sitting up on the sofa. He smiled, thinking about the way her hair had been mussed around her face and her brown eyes half closed as she gestured vaguely at him. "Got that Inuyasha? Be polite!" He had nodded and grunted in reply. Briefly he wondered what the girl was doing right then. Probably still asleep, the lazy... He let the thought trail off, as he realized that he was supposed to be doing something.

"I'm looking for some guy called Myouga," he told the man at the help desk, as he remembered his instructions. "Some guy upstairs said to find him and that he would tell me what I was supposed to do."

The receptionist scratched his pointy nose before a seraphic smile spread across his face "Myouga, huh?" He said. "While, that just happens to be me." He beckoned the newest bellhop to the desk and began explaining to him the complicated art that is bell hopping.

Which, Inuyasha felt half an hour later, could probably have been summarized in the two phrases "be nice" and "carry bags for people." His eyes glazed over as the little man, showing no sign of flagging, picked up a suitcase that was behind the counter and began to enthusiastically demonstrate the different types of hold one could use when carrying it.

I'm so gonna kill that brat Shippo, Inuyasha thought as "Now, you have to be careful about the thumb here. It should go around the handle and touch the first knuckle of the fourth finger, not the third fing " drifted past his fully covered ears.

OOOOOOOOOOOOOO

"How'd it go?" Kagome asked the moment Inuyasha walked through the door later that evening.

"Not bad," he replied, ripping off his hat and tossing it on the bed. He let out a sigh as he began to rub his ears.

"Does it hurt them?" Kagome asked, gesturing at the hat.

"Hmm? Oh. No, not really." The boy crossed to the couch and threw himself down on it.

"Well, at least you get that...exciting...uniform," Kagome grinned. Actually, the fitted red shirt part was pretty sexy. It was the brass buttons and gold braid that she found amusing.

"Thanks." Inuyasha shot her a wry look.

"So, what'd you do?" asked Kagome. She was dying for some conversation, having spent the day with Shippo and Hojo. Both of whom she liked, she reminded herself, it was just that intelligent conversation was not exactly their strong suit.

"Well," Inuyasha turned towards the girl, "Did you know that the union recognizes thirteen official ways to carry a standard suitcase?" His face was completely blank.

Kagome grinned, "Oh my."

"Yeah. And nineteen for duffle bags, although there are at least two 'unauthorized' holds."

"How controversial."

"Apparently the union is split over whether to include them or not."

Kagome giggled.

OOOOOOOOOOOOO

"Wow," Miroku nudged Sango. "Looks like they're really shelling out for this investigation."

"Yeah," said Sango. "That's what has me so worried."

"Nah. Look who they have leading the team?" Miroku pointed over to their leader who was currently in an argument with a diminutive receptionist. "See, he can't even read that guys name tag."

Sango snorted. It did sound like Kouga was having a little trouble.

"Now listen here Mig…Me…My…umm…Midga…Mega? Dammit. Who chose that font?" Kouga pointed belligerently at the curly script on the little man's nametag.

"I think it's pronounced something like Me-yoh-gah." Kouga whirled around to glare at his upstart teammates. Miroku stared back at him with a look of blank helpfulness.

"I knew that. I was just taking my time," Kouga scowled. Sometimes Miroku was too helpful for his own damn good.

The little receptionist seemed to be choking behind his desk.

"Now, Myouga."

The receptionist straightened as a finger was suddenly waved right underneath his nose.

"Yes?" He asked, wearing his most helpful look.

"What was the problem with our rooms?"

Miroku turned back to Sango. She was hiding a yawn. Watching her, he had to suppress the urge to yawn himself. It was a pretty long car ride, after all, and the second time they had done it that week. Plus Kouga's incompetence had made it even longer, what with not getting started on time, then reading the map incorrectly and sending them over an hour in the wrong direction. Of course, he or Sango _could_ have corrected him at any time, but why help the case at all, when all they had to do was keep silent and Kouga would mess up on his own?

Sango sighed. "I'm surprised they're paying this much for our rooms though." She looked around at the marble tiled floor and expensive potted plants in every corner.

"I know," said Miroku, "They must finally be recognizing my worth."

"I'm sure that's it." Sango rolled her eyes.

At that moment, Kouga came hurrying over to them, breathing a little bit heavily. "Alright. They are only giving us two rooms. Miroku, you and I can take one room, Sango, you can have the other."

"What?" Miroku stepped closer to Sango in alarm. "No, no, Kouga, that's not necessary. My dear Sango and I would be _more_ than happy to share a room. You can have the single." He put an arm around Sango's waist.

She gritted her teeth, if that hand went even three inches lower, he was going to get hit, well-intentioned lies or not.

Kouga blushed. "Oh. Umm, right. Sorry."

Miroku grinned. Sometimes Kouga just seemed so sweet and innocent. And oh-so-easy to manipulate.

OOOOOOOOOOOO

Kagome lay on the bed. Inuyasha was snoring on the sofa, a fact that was probably contributing to her inability to sleep. Also, however, she was thinking.

It was good that Inuyasha had a job. He needed to be able to support himself. Only, she sighed, it was so boring without him around the house. She supposed that she would have to go out and do something tomorrow. Maybe get a little school shopping done? Anyhow, she brightened, he had said that he had the day after off. Maybe then they could do something.

She frowned into the darkness. Inuyasha hadn't mentioned it again, but he hadn't talked to Kaede yet. They still didn't know what she knew. Kagome tried to remember how many days of vacation she had left, but her brain was too sleepy to count. Not as many as she'd had when they started, she supposed. And she really wanted to get to the bottom of this. She was curious, dammit. In frustration, she punched a fist down on the covers.

On the sofa, Inuyasha spluttered, mid-snort. Kagome froze, but he merely shifted, then became quiet. She relaxed under the covers. Really, the amount of time she spent thinking about him was getting to be somewhat ridiculous…

She slept.

OOOOOOOOOOOOOO

Sango had had a little bit of difficulty with Miroku. Not that she hadn't expected some, considering that she was actually sharing a room with the pervert. She had to forcefully remind her fellow agent that they were there on business. He had kept "accidentally" climbing into her bed with her. He claimed it was due to poor eyesight and a slight difficulty in telling his right from his left.

"Honestly," he'd said, all wide-eyed innocence, "I thought it was my bed."

"I didn't believe that the first time," she'd responded, "I'm certainly not going to believe it now. And why the hell would I be in your bed?"

"I thought maybe I was getting lucky," he'd said with that sudden grin that she found so (please god do NOT let him find out) disarming. "Or maybe you were my pillow?"

Sango had grunted and nudged him off the bed. "The day _your_ eyesight fails is the day light bulbs start to sing."

Miroku had accepted defeat cheerfully. After all, can't blame a guy for trying.

As they, finally, settled into their own beds, Sango turned to face her partner. "Miroku, do you think they're all right?"

"I'm sure they're fine," he answered, without lifting his head from the pillow. A corner was caught in his mouth, causing his words to become slightly distorted. "After all, it's a pretty big city, and Inuyasha should have a job by now. The chance that we run into them is practically non-existent."

"I suppose you're right." She sank back down onto her bed. At least they didn't have to share a room with Kouga. And thank god the Bellevue Hotel offered two double beds in each room.


	16. Kaede Spills Some Info

A/N: Hey guys, I'm back! Sorry for the long wait. As always, thanks for your reviews and I hope you enjoy the chapter!

Special thanks this chapter to **ArtemisMoon** whose reviews really helped me to get myself motivated. Also, thanks for pointing out a few continuity errors, which I will go back and fix eventually... Thanks!

Disclaimer: I don't own Inuyasha and characters.

Chapter 16: Kaede Spills Some Info

Across the table, Kaede pushed back a strand of gray hair. Kagome leaned forward. "Inuyasha's been trying to talk to you for the past couple of days," she said.

"I know."

"Then you know why."

"Yes."

Shippo chose that moment to chime in. "I told her all about it." He hopped into Kagome's lap, causing her to jump slightly. She hadn't seen the small boy come into the kitchen.

Kagome studied the older woman. She was being unexpectedly cagey. "Is there some reason you don't want to talk to Inuyasha about it?"

Kaede sighed. "It's not that," she assured the teenager. "I do want to talk with him. It's just…it's hard to figure out where to start. And I want you to be there as well."

"Okay." Kagome agreed. "Then do you promise you'll talk with us after he gets back from work?"

"Yes," said Kaede.

"All right, Kagome, let's go!" said Shippo. "You promised you would take me to the park today, remember?"

"Right," said Kagome. She took Shippo's hand and walked out of the kitchen, pausing at the door to throw a glance at the woman who was sitting at the dinner table, her gray hair hiding her face.

And that was why Kagome found herself standing outside the Bellevue Hotel that evening at precisely 5:00.

OOOOOOOOOOOOOOO

Inuyasha looked up at the clock. About damn time, he grumbled, fighting the urge to slip his fingers up under the bellhop cap and scratch his ears. He slipped into the locker room to get rid of his nametag and sign out.

As Inuyasha entered the door marked "Staff Only" an elevator across the way opened. Kouga stepped out of it and on to the polished floor. He sniffed, there was something that smelled sort of familiar in the air. Before he was able to identify the odor, though, the revolving door began to spin.

Kouga, with the well-honed instincts of a government agent, whipped his head around to stare at the entranceway. Okay, perhaps well-honed instincts wasn't the right term. Maybe paranoia would be better. Or jumpiness. Or an irrational feeling that Inuyasha was about to blast through the door. Yeah, like that's gonna happen, he berated himself.

Although, on closer inspection, he was glad that his "instincts" had caused him to turn. The girl was petite, with long dark hair flowing down her back. She was wearing jeans and a long sleeve t-shirt, which, the instinctual part of his mind noted, was pleasingly snug. Not too tight, but definitely contour-fitting. He watched as she crossed the floor and stopped in front of the reception desk.

The voice of the receptionist when he greeted her came clearly across the foyer to Kouga's ears

"Hello, miss. How may I help you?"

"Oh, I was looking for someone."

"A guest here?"

"No, he just started working."

"Oh, you me—"

Before Myouga could finish his sentence, Kouga had crossed the room.

"Are you sure you weren't looking for me?" He asked, flashing his most debonair smile.

"Umm. No, actually. I was looking for a friend of mine who just started working here." Kagome looked up into the face of the guy who had just approached her. His blue eyes were twinkling down at her. She smiled, "Sorry."

"Well," he replied, "I'm sure next time you'll be looking for me." He stuck out a hand. "What's your name? I'm Kouga."

Kagome blinked. He certainly was forward, but hell, sometimes there was something to be said for a guy who approached openly, assuming he wasn't perverted. An image of Miroku flashed into her mind.

"I'm Kagome," she said, taking his hand.

"Well, Kagome, I figure this is probably fate. Why don't you forget about your friend and come have dinner with me?"

She stared at him a moment, a smile playing about her lips. "Are you serious? You don't even know me."

"I don't need to. That's what dinner is for."

Kagome just shook her head. "I guess I'm not quite as trusting as you then."

The eyes looking down at her were suddenly serious. "That's probably wise," Kouga agreed, solemnly. "You never know what type of person you're going to encounter here."

"That's true," Kagome agreed. She certainly hadn't expected to meet _him_. She glanced at the young man out of the corner of her eye. He was lounging against the reception desk, the sleeves of his dark jacket pushed up to show rather muscular forearms. There was something attractive about the serious expression that had just crossed his face, a piece of dark hair falling across his forehead.

"Well. I'm staying here for a while," Kouga told her. "Maybe if we run into each other again, we could have coffee at the hotel restaurant or something. Then we'll really know whether its fate or not." That ought to take care of her precautions, he told himself. After all, it wasn't like they would be leaving the building.

"Right," Kagome agreed, fully intending not to see him again. Not that he wasn't attractive in his own way, but right now, she sort of found herself going for more of the golden-eyed look. Also, she wasn't sure about the sketch-factor of going out with random guys who she happened to meet in hotel lobbies. He looked okay, nice suit and all, but you never knew.

"I'll see you around then." He said, waving a hand as he backed off. Okay, he hoped he hadn't pushed too hard there. Gauging it was a tricky business. Maybe he had worked the fate angle a little too hard? It was hard to tell with girls these days, and it had been a while since he had tried to pick up a random stranger. But there was just something compelling about her; her presence was soothing. He resisted the urge to look back as he crossed towards the exit. Time to focus on finding Inuyasha he told himself as he pushed through the revolving doors. "Now," he muttered to himself, "If I were a fugitive running from the long, handsome arm of the law, where would I go?"

As he stepped out into the light, he decided that first, probably, the fugitive would go for some food. Probably, most likely, at that little café that was just down the block. And of course, once he was there, he would have to sample the goods to help him in his quest to understand the mindset of the criminal.

Kagome watched Kouga's tall figure cross the room, a bemused expression on her face. Well. That didn't happen to her everyday. Behind her, a door marked "Staff Only" opened, and a well-known head stuck itself around the corner.

"Hey, Myouga, I think I've broken the damn time punch card thingie."

"Again?" Myouga grumbled.

Kagome jumped, slightly. "Inuyasha," she turned. "I was looking for you."

"Oh. Hey. What're you doing here?"

Behind the desk, Myouga chuckled. "Mostly she's getting hit on by tall, dark, handsome men."

Kagome blushed, and Inuyasha scowled. "What?" he demanded.

"Well," Myouga tipped his head to one side, considering, "Maybe not _that _tall."

Inuyasha's scowl grew. Damn girl, coming here and getting hit on. Didn't she know better than to talk to strangers? He was just about to open his mouth and ask her, when she interrupted him.

"Inuyasha, you ready to go?"

"Almost," he looked down at her, "I've just gotta get Myouga to fix the punch card thing."

"I can't believe you broke it again," Myouga tsked, as he hopped off his chair and led Inuyasha back into the staff room. "It's really very simple to use."

Half an hour later, Inuyasha and Kagome were finally on their way back to Kaede's. Kagome was being unusually silent, her thoughts skipping ahead to the conversation that they were about to Kaede. Inuyasha watched her suspiciously. Who had she been talking to before he got there to make her so silent?

"Oi, Wench."

"Hmmm?"

"Why'd you come to pick me up?"

"Oh," Kagome'd forgotten that she hadn't explained that to him yet. "Kaede said she would talk with us once we got back. I couldn't stand waiting around anymore, so I decided to come and get you."

This time it was Inuyasha who lapsed into thoughtful silence. So, Kaede was finally around to talk with, was she? His steps quickened, they'd better get there before she disappeared again.

OOOOOOOOOOOOOOO

A rose-patterned curtain twitched back from the window above the sink. Shippo turned around. "They're here," he announced.

"Good," said Kaede. "That means that you can get down off the counter now."

"Okay," agreed the child, hopping off the counter and crossing the room to stand next to the older woman.

A few moments later, Inuyasha and Kagome entered the kitchen.

"So, you finally going to tell me all about what's going on here?" Inuyasha demanded, as soon as he saw Kaede's face.

"Inuyasha," hissed Kagome, "don't be rude."

Kaede motioned the two teenagers over to the table and offered them seats. "It's quite alright, Kagome," she said, "He is just a little bit anxious, that's all."

Inuyasha ignored the comment, in favor of pulling up a chair.

"Before I begin," Kaede said, "I just want you to know not to get your hopes up too high." She surveyed Inuyasha with a serious expression. "I mean, I know some stuff, but nowhere near all of the details."

"That's fine." Said Inuyasha. Anything she could tell him would be more than he already knew. Beside him, Kagome nodded silently.

"Alright. Well, as I am sure you have figured out by now, you are not the only one who survived the rebellion. There were those like Shippo," Kaede paused to gesture towards the little boy who was currently climbing into Kagome's lap, "Who were created after the rebellion."

"Why doesn't he have ears, too?" Kagome interjected.

Kaede frowned, "Well, he was born after the rebellion. By that time, the focus of the experiments had changed a little. The scientists decided that they wanted enhanced humans who could also pass easily into society. Thus, they tried to minimize any physical manifestations of the gene tinkering."

"But," Inuyasha interrupted, "His abilities can't be as good."

"No, they aren't," Kaede agreed. "He is limited by the humanity of his body, but his senses are still significantly better than a normal human's."

Shippo nodded from his position in Kagome's lap. "I have some other skills, too," he bragged.

"Hmph." Inuyasha raised an eyebrow, but let it pass. There would be plenty of time to go into his other "skills" later. Kagome could probably get it all out of him pretty easily.

"So they continued their experimentation even after the rebellion?" Kagome questioned.

"Yes, but with modifications. The main problem in the early days was the extent of the power of the enhanced humans."

"But are there any other early ones left?" Inuyasha leaned forward in his chair. "What happened to everyone in the rebellion?"

Kaede stood up to get a glass of water, sighing as she did so. She spoke from the sink, glancing back over her shoulder. "Most of the active participants were…gotten rid of. If not immediately eradicated, they were taken care of quietly as the years passed. Some who didn't actively take part, such as yourself, were spared and kept in isolation. Those who sided with the government were also spared. And…" Here she paused again, gripping her glass and turning back to the table. She looked Inuyasha straight in the eye. "The leader of the rebellion was captured and has not, yet, been killed. But he, I hear, is kept even more closely watched than all of you who did not take sides."

Inuyasha inhaled sharply. So. He was not alone, and many of them were still around, some even integrated fully into the human world. He didn't quite know what to do with the sudden onslaught of information.

"But where is everyone?" Kagome asked. "Inuyasha was kept in isolation, but it sounds like," she gestured vaguely at Shippo, "That was not the case with everyone?"

"That's very true," Kaede agreed. "And Inuyasha was probably kept especially isolated due to the relationship between him and the leader of the rebellion. But I really don't know what they did with everyone else." She frowned briefly. "Even Miroku doesn't seem to know."

"What're you saying about me?" A cheerful voice called from across the kitchen. Inuyasha, demonstrating, once again, his unnatural quickness, was out of the chair and halfway to the door before he got a good look at the man who had spoken.

"Oh, it's just you," he grumbled.

"Good to see you, too, Inuyasha," Miroku smiled. Sango poked her head around the corner and smiled too.

"Ah," Kaede stood. "I wondered if you would be by."

"Well," Sango smiled somewhat apologetically, "It seems that they have moved the main area of investigation into the city."

She turned to Inuyasha, "Have you managed to get work yet?"

"Yeah. I'm working as a …" Before he could finish his sentence, Shippo flew out of Kagome's lap. He looked back at her accusingly.

"Sorry," she sighed, before easing herself back into the chair that she had flown out of a moment before. Sango shot a glance at her partner, but he was standing innocently by Kaede. Yeah right. Like that innocent look was fooling anyone. The only part she didn't get was how he could move so quickly sometimes.

"Anyhow," Kagome decided to join the conversation, "Yeah. He is working, but I was thinking maybe we should cut his hair. And dye it."

"What!" Inuyasha stared at her, aghast.

Sango nodded. "Mmm. I see your point. The hair is pretty conspicuous."

"What the fuck makes you think I'll let you near my head with a pair of scissors?" Inuyasha said.

Kaede smiled. "Well, I can see that you four have some catching up to do. Come on Shippo." The two left the room.

OOOOOOOOOOOOOOOO

It was only after Sango and Miroku had left that Kagome turned to Inuyasha. "We never did get around to telling them about your job," she said.

"Well, they said that they were staying at some hotel nearby and we've got their number. I'm sure we'll see them again soon," he mumbled from his position on the sofa.

"I suppose you're right," said Kagome, pulling the blankets more securely around her. After a moment of silence, she giggled. "After all, we still haven't resolved the issue of your hair…"

Inuyasha groaned and buried his head deeper into his pillow.


	17. Close Encounters of the Kouga Kind

A/N: Okay, next bit. As always, thanks so much to everyone for their reviews and patience! I love hearing from you guys. I'm always tempted to do responses, but I figure you'd rather read the story than listen to me go on. So, please enjoy!

Disclaimer: I don't own the characters of Inuyasha.

Chapter 17: Close Encounters of the Kouga Kind

"KAGOME!"

"What?" Kagome poked her head out of the bathroom, alarmed, at Inuyasha's shout. "What's going on?"

"Why is there a brat sitting on the bed, brandishing a pair of scissors at me?"

Following his gaze, the teenager turned her head to her recently vacated bed. Sure enough, Shippo was sitting there, an open pair of what looked like pinking shears in his hands.

He grinned and brought the scissors closed with a snap.

Inuyasha started to growl. Kagome put her toothbrush back in her mouth and tried not to grin.

"He's just sitting there, Inuyasha. Doesn't look like he's doing anything to me." With a wink at Shippo, she retreated back into the bathroom. On the sofa, Inuyasha huffed and crossed his arms, refusing to take his eyes off of the fox boy sitting on the bed.

OOOOOOOOOOOOO

At the same time, though several blocks away, Kouga was rapping sharply on an anonymous hotel room door.

"Guys," he said, hoping his tone didn't sound as whiny as he expected it did, "We need to conference."

For a moment there was silence, then there was a loud squeak, followed by a series of thumps.

"One minute," shouted Miroku in reply, his voice sounding distinctly out of breath.

"Right," said Kouga, flushing slightly as the banging resumed, "I'll just be waiting in my room then."

Inside the room, Sango turned to her mischievous-looking partner. "Okay, I think he got the point," she said. "You can stop jumping on the bed now."

"Ha! He'll think twice about coming down this way again. Bet next time he'll phone."

"Idiot," Sango said fondly, smacking her partner with a still damp towel, "We're two doors down from him. It's not like it's far."

"Yeah, but you haven't seen me when I _really_ get going," Miroku paused to waggle his eyebrows at her, "By the time I'm done with him, his little virgin ears will have separated themselves, screaming, from his head. Trust me, in two days time, he'll be phoning first."

"Oh, and what, exactly, is it that you plan to do?" Sango challenged.

Ten minutes later, Miroku swaggered into his supervisor's room, followed by his rather pink-faced partner.

OOOOOOOOOOOO

What with all the chasing Shippo and the yelling and everything, it was practically noontime by the time Inuyasha and Kagome got below stairs. Hojo was waiting for them in the kitchen. At sight of the shorter boy, Inuyasha rolled his eyes. Hopefully they'd be able to shake him off soon.

"Are you okay?" the brown-haired boy asked, eyes serious. "It sounded like there was a lot of commotion up there."

Kagome cheerfully grabbed a bowl and some cereal before seating herself next to him. "Never better," she said. "Inuyasha and Shippo just got into a little, um, disagreement."

"Ah." He nodded. "So, what're your plans for today?"

"Well, it's Inuyasha's day off, so we were just gonna run a few errands and stuff," she waved a fork at him vaguely, before frowning at it and getting up to get a spoon.

"Of course."

"Wait a minute," Inuyasha turned around, "We aren't going to visit that crazy friend of yours again, are we?"

"No, no," said Kagome, "I just saw her a couple days ago. I think we should go to a hairdresser's for you, though."

"What! Wait a minu…"

"That wouldn't work," interrupted Hojo. "He could never wear a hat at a hairdressers, and if he took it off, well." He finished his sentence with a gesture towards Inuyasha's head.

Kagome looked at him. "How do you know?" she asked slowly.

"I saw him the first day, remember?"

"I mean, why aren't you surprised?"

"Well," Hojo smiled at her, "I do live here, Kagome."

"Yeah, what the fuck's up with that?" Inuyasha was not perhaps as smooth an interrupter as Hojo was. Nevertheless, Kagome had to agree with the sentiment, if not perhaps with his phrasing.

Hojo turned big eyes towards the dogboy. "Well, what with one thing and another, I ended up here. And once here, well, it was obvious."

Kagome narrowed her eyes a little. Well, that hadn't been at all informative. Still, she wasn't inclined to push it. After all, the boy obviously had the trust of Kaede, and he had been fairly harmless in the days when she had known him before.

Inuyasha, on the other hand, _was_ inclined to push it, but in the end even he couldn't learn anything from Hojo's simple, honest, and surprisingly uninformative answers. Anytime Inuyasha asked any sort of detailed questions, he would be faced with a blank stare and a "that's just how it is" sort of remark.

"The boy's an idiot," he muttered as they left the house.

"Inuyasha," Kagome frowned at him.

"What? He is."

"He was always near the top of the class."

"That doesn't mean he isn't as simple as two plus two."

Kagome frowned at him some more. "I think," she said, "That he may have taken a very smart way to avoid your questions."

"So you think he's suspicious? That it takes a special kind of idiot to be that dumb?"

"No!" When had the conversation become turned around like this? "It's just, I think that…Oh, I don't know." She huffed at him. "Come on, let's just enjoy your day off."

Beside her, Inuyasha smirked. Point to him. With the added bonus that maybe now she would be more wary around the other boy.

He swaggered a little as they headed towards the bus stop.

OOOOOOOOOOOO

Kagome was trying to pass the time. Yesterday, she realized with a slight sense of shock, had gone by so quickly. Today was dragging. She and Inuyasha had finished all the errands, leaving her today with nothing to do except her homework, or think about Inuyasha's situation.

It was amazing, she pondered, how quickly they had gotten used to it. In some ways, it was hard to remember that the dogboy was, technically, on the run. With, she reminded herself, numerous government agents out for his blood. If only the damn stubborn fool would let her cut his hair. A scowl flitted across her face. Honestly, she didn't know why he was being so stubborn about it.

Okay, so it was nice hair. He looked good. Still, though, long, silver hair was not exactly inconspicuous.

Maybe if she could get him to dye it, she would let up about the cutting. Hmm. She tried to picture him as a blond and laughed. Definitely not. Maybe some sort of brunet?

But there, she had wandered off track. The problem was that really, she and Inuyasha did not have enough information. Although they had picked up little dribbles here and there, it still seemed like people were keeping things from them. Most important was the question of what the modified humans who were fully integrated in society were doing. As Shippo's existence proved, they were out there. There had to be ways to get in touch with them.

That, she decided, was what they needed to figure out next. With that settled, she turned to the math homework that her teacher had assigned for over break.

OOOOOOOOOOOO

Okay, Kagome was willing to admit that she didn't like math. She was also willing to admit that Inuyasha probably didn't _need_ her to come and pick him up again. However, she was sure he would appreciate the gesture.

"Hello!" said the chipper little man behind the desk. "Here to pick up your friend again?"

"Yep," Kagome smiled at him. "Do you know if he's off yet?"

"Just five more minutes I think. Last I saw, they sent him down to the laundry room." Myouga leaned forward and whispered as if they were two conspirators, "Apparently room 457 was kicking up a fuss about their dinner jackets."

"You don't say?" said Kagome, widening her eyes at him in mock shock, while hiding an inner grin. She was tempted to ask him to teach her the proper ways to carry a suitcase, while she was at it, but suspected that he would decline since she wasn't in the union. Oh well.

As Kagome was fraternizing with Myouga, the elevator door slid open.

"Ah ha! This time I bet you're looking for me!"

Kagome turned around, her eyes widening. There before her was none other than the guy she had run into two days ago. What was his name again? Kou something or other. She almost slapped a hand against her hand. Unbelievable that she would actually run into him again here.

"Oh, you're still staying here?" she decided that a polite but reserved tone was probably the best to go with.

"Indeed I am," Kouga smiled down at her. Hmm. She was wearing jeans again. For a brief moment, he wondered how old she actually was; didn't want to run into trouble in that direction, although for a fully licensed professional, he himself was very young. Probably, he decided, eyes scanning her face, she was only a couple of years younger than him.

"Back for your friend again?"

"Yes," Kagome answered.

"She doesn't seem to be here yet, so why don't you come have that coffee I promised you?"

"Sorry," smiled Kagome, "But he's supposed to be done in just a minute or two."

"You know, you're making this very difficult on fate," Kouga let his voice trail off. The face before him looked slightly puzzled so he decided to elaborate. "After all, it can't be coincidence that we've met here twice now."

Kagome just smiled and was about to reply when the elevator doors opened again. She craned her neck to see beyond Kouga. Maybe it was Inuyasha, come to rescue her from the not-so-subtle and surprisingly persistent advances of the man standing right in front of her.

Instead, she was shocked as Miroku and Sango stepped out onto the polished floor of the lobby. Holy shit, her brain whispered, why were they there?

Miroku and Sango had been arguing in the elevator. Predictable, really, Sango reflected, her attention fully focused on her impossible partner. As she followed him out into the lobby, she noticed his back suddenly stiffen.

"Oh, shit," he whispered. "Why is she here?"

"What is it?" Sango asked, looking to the area where his attention was focused. One of her eyebrows lifted. There was Kagome standing at the desk, talking to Kouga. "Do you think she's looking for us?" she asked.

"Don't know," Miroku answered shortly as he strode towards the desk, his shoes making tapping sounds on the polished marble.

As Sango observed the shocked look on Kagome's face, she felt her heart sink. Somehow it seemed very unlikely that Kagome had come for them. She tried frantically to remember their meeting two days ago. Had they told her where they were staying? She really, really hoped so, because otherwise the alternatives…

OOOOOOOOOOOOOO

There was a moment of silence as Miroku and Sango joined Kagome and Kouga in front of the desk. Miroku glanced at Kagome's face. He could practically _see_ the wheels turning in her head.

"Ah," Kouga turned slightly, "Miroku, Sango, I see you two have come down."

Kagome's eyes, already wide, shot open even more. Oh god. The man she had just been talking to _knew_ Sango and Miroku. He knew them. That could only mean one thing. He must be their…

"On time as requested, sir."

…boss. Shit. Kagome frantically turned to Sango. The older woman staring at her shared the faintly horrified look that she knew must be on her own face.

"Well," Kouga turned back to the young woman in front of him, "Kagome, I'm afraid I will have to leave you now that my subordinates have come." Ha! Subordinates! He was in charge of others, in a position of responsibility, women were always impressed by stuff like that, weren't they?

Not for the first time, Sango thanked whatever gods above for giving her boss the deductive abilities of a piece of chalk.

"O-Oh. Yes," Kagome nodded at him.

"Next time," he winked at her.

"Right," she smiled weakly. Oh god. He was the head of the Inuyasha-chasers! They had to get him out of there immediately. Inuyasha might come out of one of those "employees only" doors any minute. "Well, see you around."

Miroku and Sango exchanged a glance. "You two start without me," the female agent said. "I just remembered that I forgot my compact. I'll catch up with you."

"Okay," Miroku agreed. "We'll wait for you at the car."

"That's okay," said Kouga with a glance at Kagome, "We can wait right here in the lobby."

"No, no," said Miroku, firmly. "We'd better get the engine warmed up." With a firm hand he grabbed his supervisor by the elbow and steered him towards the revolving doors.

"But, hey, hold on a second!" Kouga sputtered, as he found himself being dragged across the floor. Damn floor polish.

Kagome let out a sigh of relief as she saw the two disappear into the revolving doors. It was very short-lived though, as she turned to Sango. "Please, _please_, tell me that you guys are not staying here."

"Sorry," said Sango with a grimace. "Does this mean that Inuyasha's here?"

Kagome nodded. "He's supposed to be getting off any minute now."

Sango cursed softly. "Dammit. What're the odds?"

"I know."

With a glance towards the check-in desk, which was occupied by a very curious Myouga, Sango steered Kagome a few feet away.

"Alright. Well, this is obviously a problem. If Kouga'd seen him just then, we would've been in huge trouble. He's not always the most perceptive agent, but even he…"

"I know."

Sango sighed. "Well, we'll obviously need to have an emergency meeting about this. I have to go now, 'cause they're waiting for me. But tonight, around nine or ten? We'll stop by Kaede's."

"Sounds good," Kagome agreed.

"Don't worry, we'll work it out. Oh, and wait at least ten minutes before you two leave this hotel, ok?" With a reassuring smile, Sango left the girl and went out to join her associates.

"Lot's of excitement here today."

Kagome looked over to the check-in clerk. "Yeah," she agreed. Crap. He was looking suspiciously bland. But before she could reply, the elevators opened again to reveal a very wet, pissed off Inuyasha.

"Look, old man," he growled, "You need to tell those jackasses to fix those damn machines."

Myouga chuckled. "Have a little trouble in the laundry room?"

"Shut up." Yellow eyes glared at the little clerk for a moment, before shifting towards Kagome. "Oh. Hey, Kagome. You're here again?"

"Yeah," Kagome nodded, still trying to will the blood back up to her head. Unbelievable, the bloody agents were in the same building. And she'd talked with the boss twice already.

"Ok. Let me just go punch out."

"You know," said the clerk as they watched him leave the lobby, "He's actually a very good employee. I'd hate to lose him."

"Yeah," Kagome agreed softly, "Me too."

TBC


	18. The Logical Next Step

A/N: A couple days late, but not too bad. Thanks everyone for your feedback! Feel free to continue with all criticism and commentary. Hope you enjoy this chapter.

Disclaimer: The characters of 'Inuyasha' do not belong to me. All grammar mistakes and plot holes do.

Chapter 18: The Logical Next Step

"Dammit, Miroku. Let go!" Kouga wrenched his arm out of his subordinate's arm once they were outside the hotel. "What do you think you're doing? She was totally into me!"

"Sorry, sir. But Sango and I had a thought that we wanted to run by you. I didn't want to talk about it in such a public place."

"Oh." Kouga still looked slightly annoyed, but he followed Miroku to their parked car. As they climbed in, he shot his underling a challenging look. "So, what was it that you had to say that was so important it couldn't wait?"

Miroku could feel himself beginning to sweat. Okay, so he hadn't quite thought this through. Now he needed an excuse, and fast.

"Umm. Well, first we were wondering…if forensics has come up with anything back in at Smollet?" Weak, he chided himself. Very weak.

Apparently Kouga agreed. "You dragged me out here for that?" He peered at the other man suspiciously. "You know I would've told you two if they had."

"Right," said Miroku. "It's just, well, we were thinking maybe you should check the…" His voice trailed off. He didn't actually want Kouga checking _anything_ more thoroughly than he already had.

Kouga frowned at him. "We already looked over the tapes for the night. There was nothing unusual—except, of course, for the power outage. There weren't even any unauthorized entries that day. We checked the record."

Shit. Miroku felt himself grow cold. They had been stupid, so stupid. And he hadn't even realized it until that moment. How could both he and Sango have overlooked the door? It was such an obvious point. Somehow, they had both forgotten that every time the door was opened the key card signature that authorized the opening was recorded.

It was only a matter of time before someone went over the authorization records for the weeks leading up to the escape. And once they did, someone was sure to notice that there were a few…anomalous entries. Oh god. He tried to remember every time that they had opened the door. Kagome had gotten in there originally by using Kikyo's card, and he had gone in after her using the janitorial access one. After that, they had all gone in using the janitorial one. Pretty much anyone who knew anything about the building could've been able to use the janitorial access card. It was kept locked up, but it wouldn't be too hard to get a key to it. It wasn't directly linked to them then, but they weren't in the best position, either.

Of course, none of that would make the slightest difference once the team contrasted the dates of unauthorized entry with the videotapes, which they were sure to do immediately. As soon as that was done, it would be obvious that someone had been tampering with them. It's not like Inuyasha would've been having invisible visitors. And, as Sango had so sweetly pointed out, on at least one of the videotapes Inuyasha's sheets changed color halfway through the night. And who was it that had access to the tapes? The agents assigned to watch the dogboy, of course. They were about to become the most obvious suspects in the whole damn case. Oh shit. Shit, shit, shit, _shit_.

As Miroku was frantically trying to think up something to say to his supervisor that wouldn't give any of his panicking thoughts away, Sango came up to the car. Thank god, he thought, hopefully she can distract him.

Sango opened the door and slid into the backseat. "Got it," she said cheerfully, "turns out it was in my purse after all." She smiled at her coworkers. Miroku was looking a bit pale, she noticed. Also he was waggling his eyebrows at her and bugging his eyes. He obviously had something to say to her. She wondered what he could have learned in five minutes with Kouga that was so important.

OOOOOOOOOOOOOOO

"Later, Myouga," Inuyasha said as he walked towards the revolving doors.

"Hold on a second, Inuyasha," Kagome said.

"Hm? What's up?" He turned around and stared down at her.

"I just…wanted to ask you a question." Kagome tried to ignore the knowing look that Myouga was shooting her, as she led Inuyasha a few steps away from the desk. Lowering her voice, she continued.

"Bad news, Inuyasha."

He looked at her, alerted by the urgency in her usually smooth voice.

"Miroku and Sango are staying here."

"So? They'll be easier to…oh."

Kagome nodded at the dawning comprehension on his face.

"They aren't alone, are they?"

"No," she agreed.

Inuyasha sniffed the air. "I guess that would explain why their scent is here." He shook his head. "I can't believe I didn't notice it earlier."

"You weren't expecting them," Kagome said, "Plus this area must get a lot of traffic. Probably enough to cover it up given a few minutes."

"I guess," he looked down. "Fuck, though, this isn't good." Kagome stayed silent. After all, there was nothing she could say. He was right.

Inuyasha looked up as a thought occurred to him. "They must've just been through here. You ran into them?"

Kagome nodded. "And their boss."

For a moment they were both silent, and Kagome went back to contemplating the implications of their accidental meeting. Inuyasha had been so close to being found out. If he'd been a moment earlier, if they'd been a moment later. Oh god, and Kagome had _wanted _him to come out. Had wanted him to chase away Kouga.

"Fuck," Inuyasha said again, interrupting her thoughts. She looked up to see him sniffing the air. "What's the boss like? I can't get a good scent of _anyone_ here."

"His name is Kouga, he's got dark hair and blue eyes, medium build," Kagome said. "Anyhow, Sango said we should wait at least ten minutes before leaving. It's been, probably, five. And they'll be stopping by Kaede's later on."

Inuyasha nodded. His ears were itchy. At least he had been able to trade his bellhop hat for a baseball cap before all this started.

OOOOOOOOOOOOO

That evening, Inuyasha and Kagome were sitting in their room, the atmosphere somewhat subdued, when the doorbell rang. Kagome watched Inuyasha. She couldn't hear a thing, but from the twitching of his ears, he obviously could. He looked over at her.

"Kaede's letting them in," he said, correctly interpreting the look on her face. "She's sending them up here, I think. I hear footsteps on the stairs."

A few seconds later, there was a knock on the door.

"Hi," Kagome said, opening it to reveal Sango.

"Miroku's coming," she said, stepping into the room. "He just wanted to discuss a few things with Kaede."

She turned around. "Now, where can I put this?" she asked, holding up a small paper bag.

"What's in it?" asked Kagome.

Sango grinned, and reached into it. "Well, we figured that Kagome probably hadn't gotten you to cut your hair…"

A voice from the door interrupted them. "I don't see why you won't, though. I mean, girls like shorter hair. It's more masculine."

Inuyasha scowled. "Since when are ponytails masculine?"

"Miroku," said Kagome, jumping. The agent smiled at her and stepped out of the doorway.

"Keh," said Inuyasha.

Sango rolled her eyes. "Anyways, since you won't, for whatever reason, cut your hair, we thought we'd bring you this."

She held up a small cardboard box.

"We figure," Miroku continued, "cut a couple eyeholes in it, and you've got the perfect disguise."

"Funny," said Inuyasha, reaching for the box.

"Yeah, but then we realized that with all those brains of yours, the box was too small."

Inuyasha ignored the agent.

"I mean, seriously, Inuyasha, you haven't even done anything to disguise yourself!"

"He does always wear a hat," Kagome jumped in.

Miroku turned to her. "Come on, Kagome, you and I both know that a hat is not going to fool anyone."

Inuyasha snorted. "And you think a box of hair dye will?"

"Now, now," Sango interjected. "It's just a suggestion. But Inuyasha, I really do think you should use it."

"You're probably right," said Kagome. "What color did you guys get?"

"Black," said Sango. "Although Miroku had to be forcibly restrained from the red."

The girls shared a look, and Kagome giggled.

OOOOOOOOOOOOOO

Kouga sighed into the phone. Somehow his team was never there when he wanted them. Now where had they gone? Oh right, Miroku had said something about visiting his foster mother. He flopped onto his double bed, stared at the picture of tiger lilies hanging on the wall above the television, and tried to figure out what to do with his evening in.

OOOOOOOOOOOOOOO

"I really don't want to get another job," Inuyasha was saying. "This one is good, plus they aren't too demanding." He frowned.

"He still doesn't have any job experience other than this," added Kagome. "It's not going to look good if he quits this one immediately."

The four were seated on the floor, Inuyasha and Kagome leaning back against the sofa, Miroku and Sango sitting cross-legged across from them.

"I know," said Sango, "but we can't leave the hotel either."

"Yeah, Kouga's already being a pain in the ass. I think this is the most authority Naraku has ever given him."

The two agents exchanged a glance. "Wouldn't surprise me," agreed Sango.

"But it's not a good idea to have all of you in the same hotel. That's just asking for trouble." Kagome sighed.

"Maybe I could just beat up this Kouga guy," Inuyasha suggested.

Kagome gave him a look.

"No," she said. "Besides, Inuyasha, you don't know what Kouga looks like _or _smells like. Which is going to make him even more difficult to avoid."

"Or beat up."

"You're not beating him up. Don't be ridiculous."

"Do you have a schedule with you, Inuyasha?" interrupted Miroku.

"Yeah, hold on a second." The teenager got up and went over to his duffle bag. "I know I have one here somewhere." As he rifled through his clothes, the other three continued to talk.

"It all comes down to whether Inuyasha is willing to risk continuing to work at the hotel," said Sango.

"Ah ha!" said the boy in question. "I knew I had a schedule around here somewhere." He walked back to the group, dropping a folded piece of paper into Miroku's lap. "It's only for the rest of the week, though. And I am willing to risk it, at least for a little longer." He frowned, "I know that it's asking for trouble, but I really don't think I can find another job as easily as I found this one."

"That's fine," said Miroku. "Do you have a piece of paper and pencil so I can copy this?"

"Sure," said Kagome, standing up to get it for him.

"Alright. If you're willing to risk it, Inuyasha, we'll try our best to keep Kouga out of your way," said Sango. "But I still don't like it."

"That's not the only problem, though," said Miroku. Briefly he told the rest of them about the conclusions he had drawn earlier when he was in the car with Kouga. "We're all in danger, see," he said. He paused. "Except, maybe you, Kagome. I don't know if there is anything that can connect you to this at this point. If you want to get out of this, now would be the time."

Out of the corner of her eye, Kagome saw Inuyasha stiffen slightly, but he remained silent. "Don't worry," said the girl, "I'm not going anywhere until I have to."

"As long as you're sure."

"I am."

Inuyasha relaxed again, leaning back against the sofa.

"Okay," said Sango. "The thing is that I think we may have to push this to a resolution. I don't think just disappearing is going to work in this case, like we first thought. There are too many complicating factors—not least of which is the involvement of Miroku and myself."

Miroku nodded, "I think she's right. We need to somehow get the agency into a position in which they agree that keeping you alive is more valuable than killing you."

Inuyasha scowled at this. "Running away isn't going to work, is that what you're saying?"

"Pretty much."

"Well, that's as may be," said Kagome. "I think the real problem, though, is that we need more information. The question is _how _are we going to maneuver Inuyasha into a position from which he can make demands?" She paused, drawing her legs up to her chest and resting her chin on her knees. "Is there any way that we could get in touch with other modified humans?"

"What?" said Inuyasha. "We can do that?"

"Think about it," she told him. "There have to be more of them out there. What are they doing? How are they integrated into society? Is there any way that you can get in contact with that group? And if so, can they help you? They've got to have some sort of agreement with the agency. Someone like Shippo couldn't have just escaped on his own."

Miroku frowned at her thoughtfully. "Sounds sensible," he said. "Problem is that we don't have any of that information."

"Does Kouga?" asked Kagome.

"I doubt it," said Sango. "Naraku keeps him on a pretty short leash."

"Who's this 'Naraku'?" Inuyasha interjected.

"He's the head of the department," explained Miroku. "He oversees everything."

"So if anyone would know anything, it'd be him." Inuyasha's eyes had a strange gleam in them.

"Wait a minute, Inuyasha," said Kagome. "What exactly are you thinking of doing?"

He looked at her and smirked. "You're already helping a felon, right Kagome?"

"Yes," she said, uncertain.

"If you get caught, you're going to be in pretty big trouble, right?"

"Yeah…" She wasn't sure she wanted to know where this conversation was going.

"So, it's probably not going to make that big a difference if you commit one or two small crimes in the meantime?"

"Wait a minute, wait a minute. What exactly are you getting at?" She was starting to feel a little nervous, and she definitely did not trust that twinkle in Inuyasha's golden eyes. She looked to Miroku and Sango, but their faces were just as blank as her own. It was obvious that neither of them knew what Inuyasha was thinking anymore than she did.

"Well then," the smile on Inuyasha's face was strangely feral, "who's up for a little breaking and entering?"

OOOOOOOOOOOOOOO

The phone rang. Kouga picked it up with a frown. His team better not be getting into trouble.

"Hey boss."

He recognized the voice of one of the girls on his forensics team. A something. He couldn't quite remember her name.

"It's Ayame." Ah. Ayame. Yes, that sounded right.

"Yes, Ayame?"

"I know it's a little late, but I've found something that I thought you should know about."

The frown on Kouga's face grew more and more thoughtful as he listened to his subordinate.

"Thank you, Ayame," he said finally. Now he just needed to find Miroku and Sango. They should be back soon, and there were a few things that it looked like the three of them needed to discuss.

TBC


End file.
